Carteret Fire Department
The Borough of Carteret hired its first firefighter in 1800.[1] It relied on a single paid firefighter up until 1920, when paid staff was expanded to five firefighters to operate the Borough's first motorized fire truck. In the 1950s, when the United States' new Interstate Highway system was built, and an exit was built in Carteret, the department started to purchase trucks designed for safe operation fighting vehicle fires on busy high-speed highways.
In August 1990 a pipeline carrying jet fuel burst, in Carteret.[2] The Carteret Fire Department joined with personnel from GATX Terminals Corporation and the Middlesex County Hazardous Materials Unit to construct a temporary dike to prevent the fuel from flowing into the Arthur Kill.
Up until 2011 Carteret would request assistance from the commissioner for help from fireboats of the Fire Department of New York, when there was a waterfront fire.[3] In 2011, through the assistance of a FEMA Port Security Grant, the department acquired its first fireboat.[4] The 27 feet (8.2 m) vessel cost $297,000.[5]
In April 2013 the Fire Department took over providing emergency medical services, replacing a non-profit volunteer ambulance service.[6]
In December 2014 My Central Jersey reported on an investigation of serious sexual harassment targeted on the department's sole female firefighter.[7]
The Fire Department responded to a fire at the Carteret Gardens Apartments on June 4, 2020.[8]
On July 10, 2020 the Department's fireboat aided in the search to recover the body of a teen missing in the Arthur Kill.[9] Johnny Vasquez, of Perth Amboy, was found unresponsive by NYPD divers.
References
- ↑ "Fire Department History". Borough of Carteret (Carteret, NJ). https://www.carteret.net/fire-department-history/. Retrieved 2020-04-30. "The Carteret Fire Department began in the late 1800's with the hiring of a single fire fighter to operate the fire apparatus. At that time, the fire apparatus was horse drawn, and the duties of a firefighter were quite different than they are today. In case of a fire, the team of horses would be unhooked from another borough wagon, and raced to the firehouse."
- ↑ "METRO DATELINE; Pipeline Ruptures; Dike Contains Spill". The New York Times (Carteret, NJ): p. L28. 1990-08-04. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/04/nyregion/metro-dateline-pipeline-ruptures-dike-contains-spill.html?searchResultPosition=1. Retrieved 2020-07-19. "Crews from GATX, the Carteret Fire Department and the Middlesex County Hazardous Materials unit helped after the spill, she said."
- ↑ Longin W. Marzecki (1974-12-08). "N. Y Fireboats Help State". The New York Times (Carteret, New Jersey): p. 130. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/08/archives/n-y-fireboats-help-state-vessel-cost-924000-no-payments-offered.html?searchResultPosition=1. Retrieved 2020-07-15. "Marine Fire Company No. 9, which operates the largest fireboat in the world, the Firefighter, is usually the first unit on the scene of a Jersey waterfront blaze; it has its headquarters adjacent to the Staten Island‐Manhattan ferry slips in St. George."
- ↑ Tom Haydon (2011-12-21). "Carteret receives $297K fire boat via federal Homeland Security funds". NJ Advance Media (Carteret). https://www.nj.com/news/local/2011/12/carteret_receives_297k_fire_bo.html. Retrieved 2020-07-15. "The twin-engine, 27-foot Boston Whaler, with a price tag of $297,000, will have pumps to assist distressed vessels and night-vision goggles and camera."
- ↑ "Carteret awarded fire boat through Port Security Grant Program". Borough of Carteret (Carteret, NJ). 2011-12-21. https://www.carteret.net/news/carteret-awarded-fire-boat-through-port-security-grant-program/. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- ↑ "Carteret Fire Department begins 24/7 EMS coverage as Carteret Volunteer First Aid Inc. ceases operations". Borough of Carteret (Carteret, NJ). 2013-04-10. https://www.carteret.net/news/carteret-fire-department-begins-24-7-ems-coverage-as-carteret-volunteer-first-aid-inc-ceases-operations/. Retrieved 2020-04-30. "Mayor Dan Reiman has announced that in the wake of the Carteret Volunteer First Aid Squad shutting its doors and ceasing operations, the Carteret Fire Department EMS division will expand operations from 12 hours a day to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The private, non-profit Carteret Volunteer First Aid Squad was first established in 1934. In 1999 due to the inability of the Volunteer squad to staff day time hours the Borough selected Rural Metro Inc. to provide EMS coverage for the Borough on weekdays, while the under-staffed volunteer organization continued to provide coverage on weekends."
- ↑ Sergio Bichao (2014-10-19). "Exclusive details: Sex, lies & text messages in Carteret Fire Dept. scandal". My Central Jersey (Carteret, NJ). https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/middlesex-county/2014/10/19/carteret-fire-department-sex-scandal-harassment-reiman/17456309/. Retrieved 2020-07-15. "But when a firefighter texted a female volunteer a picture of his penis, and then admitted under oath that he had sex in the parking lot of a borough elementary school, neither the fire chief nor the mayor thought to reprimand the borough employee."
- ↑ Jon Craig (2020-06-04). "Firefighters Fight Apartment House Blaze At Carteret Gardens". The Daily Voice. https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/middlesex/police-fire/firefighters-fight-apartment-house-blaze-at-carteret-gardens/788910/. Retrieved 2020-07-19. "A fire was reported at Carteret Gardens Apartments at 25 Wedgewood Drive shortly after noon, authorities said. The Carteret Fire Department was battled the two-alarm blaze and mutual aid was en route, according to initial reports."
- ↑ Allison Pries (2020-07-10). "Teen dies after being pulled from N.J. bay". NJ Advance Media. https://www.nj.com/news/2020/07/teen-drowns-in-nj-bay-divers-find-body-in-prohibited-swimming-area.html. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
