NJ fire department shut down after 118 years as mayor claimed residents were not safe

Flamed out.

A New Jersey fire department that has helped a community for over a century was shut down following a years-long push from the mayor to close the historic firehouse, who felt insufficient staffing created unsafe conditions for residents.

The Woodbridge Township Council voted 8-1 on Aug. 12 to pass a measure that will dissolve the 118-year-old Keasbey Fire Department and merge the district with neighboring Fords Fire Company.

“We stressed that Keasbey residents were not currently safe with the situation that exists and that not having proper firefighter response to a structure fire was in fact an emergency,” Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac said at the meeting. “This issue was not about finances but about public safety.”

The department’s eight paid firefighters were allowed to keep their jobs and work elsewhere within the township along with the volunteer firefighters.

Council members met with the NJ Local Finance Board that approved the ordinance in a unanimous 7-0 decision, according to McCormac.

“Our presentation noted the history of our concerns with Keasbey going back to 2021, and our requests to the state to perform the study in 2025 and the report the state issued in 2026 recommending the merger,” McCormac said.

“We spoke about the inability for Keasbey to respond to fires with the recommended number of firefighters in order to gain access to a structure and with the required number of firefighters responding to a scene within the mandated time frame,” the longtime mayor contended.

McCormac said Keasbey had the largest fire district taxes in Woodbridge while being the smallest district with the fewest calls.

“We mentioned in the property tax savings resulting from the merger and that the average homeowner would see a $1,000 per year drop in fire district taxes in Fords compared to Keasbey,” McCormac said.

Keasbey Fire officials alleged McCormac’s claims about the number of calls had been false, saying the department had responded to an average of 16 calls a month over the last year compared to the “10-12 responses per month” found by the state report and “barely one call a week”

The department said it had responded to 10 calls in the week ending on Aug. 12.

A petition, with 1,452 signatures, was made in opposition to the dissolution, calling to end the “merger.”

“For more than 118 years, the Keasbey Fire Department has faithfully protected the residents, businesses, industries, and visitors of the Keasbey community. Since 1908, generations of firefighters have answered emergency calls, protected lives and property, and served with courage, dedication, and pride,” the petition read.

The Keasbey Fire Department, initially named the Protection Fire Company No. 1, was created following a fire that broke out at the Ostrander Fire Brick Company, which exposed community members to the fact that there was no proper fire district in the area.

“Rather than accept that loss, the people of Keasbey chose to act,” according to the petition, revealing the fire company formed on June 1, 1908 and has served the small community west of Staten Island since.

Keasbey Fire Chief John Manna accused McCormac and the town council of back-channel private negotiations and keeping the department in the dark until the last second, a claim the mayor has denied.

“We did not receive the due courtesy of an explanation by township officials of what you wanted to do, why you wanted to do it, what the process was going forward and the potential impact upon our operations,” Manna said, according to NJ.com.

Fire district attorney Howard Pashman claimed the township wanted to dissolve the department because a developer had purchased up surrounding properties and the firehouse was the last thing standing, the outlet reported.

“The only missing piece of that puzzle is the firehouse where Fire District Number 4 is located at 420 Smith Street,” Pashman said at the meeting. “That’s the missing piece.”

Fords Fire District is now the title owner of the former Keasbey Firehouse and will make the final decision on selling the building, McCormac said during the town council meeting on Aug. 18.