Off the campus, into the fire

In addition to his engineering job, Christensen is part of a unique fraternity, one of 24 Public Safety and facilities employees who also volunteer at the Princeton Fire Department.

Eight University employees recently completed training to become full firefighters, joining 16 others in the inaugural year of the University’s pilot volunteer firefighter program and becoming part of the “brotherhood” of the fire department, as Mercer County Fire Academy director Scott Loh characterized it. Six more Princeton employees are currently in the application process.

The volunteers will aid in emergencies “primarily during the day,” Assistant Vice President for Facilities Roger Demareski said. “Most volunteer [fire] companies have difficulty with daytime response since many of their members work outside of town,” he explained. “Our program was developed in conjunction with the fire department to help overcome this issue.”

“Whether it’s a structural fire or car fire,” University Fire Marshall Bob Gregory said, the volunteers can now handle a broad spectrum of emergencies, including in operational level hazardous material response.

Typical alarms, however, may be less technical. Loh cited some “unique” calls among those he’s witnessed, including the classic cat stuck in a tree.

Gregory noted that people call the fire department for a range of interesting reasons, some of which have nothing to do with fire.

“Recently we had a couple of our members respond to a call last week on Witherspoon Street,” Gregory noted. “A pipe broke in one of the basements and filled the basement with water.” The firefighters who responded “had to put shoring on the walls [and] pump out the basement,” he said.

Christensen said that on some calls, all the firefighters who responded were University employees, including the one to Drumthwacket where they investigated the triggering of the alarm system. A contractor had been working on the alarm system in one of the buildings, he explained.

The recently graduated trainees completed about 180 hours of training spread out over about two and a half months and covering 28 different learning modules, Loh said, a process that “equips [the volunteers] to handle most of the emergencies that they would be called to.”

But the “fun” training regimen also led to a deep camaraderie among the participants, said Dan Voicheck, the senior shift operator of the University’s utility plant and volunteer firefighter. “We’re all friends now for life,” he noted.

The traditional “brotherhood” within a fire department is pivotal when it comes to dealing with emergencies, Loh said. “When those serious calls come in, each other is all [the firefighters] really have.”

Michael Kervan, a senior maintenance mechanic at Frick Lab, added, “No matter where you go, if you meet someone who’s a firefighter, it’s like they’re part of your family.”

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The newest family members will train monthly to keep up basic skills and also train for new emergences, such as dealing with weapons of mass destruction as well as hybrid cars which have caught fire or have been in an accident, Demareski said.

Mark Freda, director of emergency and safety services in Princeton Borough, called the time the University is allowing the volunteer firefighters “exceedingly generous.” He added, “It’s not just like they’re giving money to the town directly, but in a way this is much more valuable than that.”

Christensen called the balance between working for the University and firefighting “a work in progress,” noting that so far he hasn’t had to ignore any calls. “When I’m on my day shift, whatever call comes in, I respond,” he explained.

Kervan also said he hasn’t encountered significant difficulties balancing his dual responsibilities, calling the opportunity “a rewarding experience.”

Demareski called the opportunity rewarding as well. “It’s a great example of how a university and a municipality can partner together to help solve an issue. We’re hopeful that this program can be a model for other universities and towns to use as they address similar issues with their local fire departments,” he said.

“It’s not just about squirting water and putting fires out,” Loh said. “There’s a human side to it as well. That’s something that a lot of people overlook.”