It’s out with the old and in with the new at Newbury Volunteer Fire Department, as curious visitors are invited to tour the recently-renovated and refurbished station from 1-4 p.m. Sept. 7.
It’s out with the old and in with the new at Newbury Volunteer Fire Department, as curious visitors are invited to tour the recently-renovated and refurbished station from 1-4 p.m. Sept. 7.
The improved department consists of two areas — a refurbished section and a new addition sitting on top of what used to be the parking lot.
A Renovation in the Making
The older part of the building is close to 30 years old, Fire Chief Ken Fagan said.
“We moved in in 1990,” he explained.
The process of planning for the renovations and addition began in 2019.
“We decided to do the addition and renovation at the same time. Some people said, ‘Well why don’t we just do the addition’ and our committee said, ‘Well we might as well do everything so everything’s brand new and then it’ll last another 30, 40 years,’” he said.
Included in the new section of the building are a fire prevention room for looking over plans, offices and a conference room.
“In the old station — in the old part — we had a conference room,” Fagan said. “And, as the years went on, it became more of a storage (area) because we were running out of room. So, we started piling stuff in all the rooms that we had.”
The refurbished section now includes a room for file storage, as well as multiple other storage areas. It also contains a communications room, a quiet study room and a kitchen with a pantry.
Maps of the township line the walls to the truck bay for staff to check as they head out for a call. The gear locker room now also sports outlets and USB ports, allowing firefighters a spot to charge flashlights and phones.
A number of amenities for the firefighting staff are also included in the new section of the building.
“We opted for individual dorms. A lot of places, everybody sleeps together or they have knee high walls, but there’s been studies and it makes sense. If everybody has their own room, they sleep better,” Fagan said. “If you sleep better, you operate better.”
The department houses six small rooms for staff, each containing a bed, AC unit and TV. Close by the dorms are a fitness room, locker room and laundry room.
While the number of staff in the department is currently small, these amenities have been designed with a larger crew in mind. It can fit more people if, down the road, the department chooses to hire and expand, Fagan explained.
The existing section of the building was entirely gutted, the chief said, adding the department moved all their belongings into a 40-foot shipping container, where they were kept for eight months.
In the meantime, staff operated out of a construction trailer in the front parking lot. In the future, the department plans to use the shipping container for training, Fagan said.
FD Plans for a Growing Future
While the changes to the building may be completed, changes within the department are still ongoing, as it continues transitioning from being volunteer run to staffed full time.
Newbury’s fire department was founded as a volunteer department in 1954, the chief said.
Since then, the township has changed in some significant ways — more people have moved in and the population is older, he said.
“A few years ago, the nursing home in Newbury basically doubled in size, so that increased the needs,” Fagan said.
The department’s calls have also drastically increased in recent years, with 2022 having 692 calls, 2023 having 792 and 2024 being on track for a total well into the 800s, the chief said.
“When I first started (in 1982), we were probably averaging 20 calls a month,” said Fagan. “Now, we’re averaging 75.”
The increase in calls combined with fewer volunteers sparked the department’s decision to move to a full-time staff.
“When (Treasurer Belinda Fagan and I) first started, there was, sometimes there was a waiting list of people that wanted to volunteer,” Fagan said, adding the department had been allowed a maximum of 45 members at the time.
“So, we had 45 members. Then, as the years progressed, that dropped to 35, and it dropped to 25, and then it dropped to 10,” he said, adding firefighting is a job that requires a lot of time and many volunteers had busy lives, some with children and multiple jobs to balance.
Towns decentralizing has also played a role.
“At our old fire station, across from the old fire station was a business called Newbury Industries. And the owner of that company was 110% behind the fire department,” Fagan recalled. “There was, I believe at one time, eight or 10 people that worked at his business that were on the volunteer department. Because he was such an advocate for the fire department, whenever there was a call, he let all them go across the street and go on the call. But, you don’t have that anymore with businesses.”
Volunteer vs. Staffed
To the public, the primary difference in service from a volunteer versus a staffed department is response time, Fagan explained.
“The volunteer department, when a call comes in, you’re depending on people coming from home or back then, people coming from work. So, they would come to the station, get their gear on and then get on the truck and go,” he said. “Call comes in now with the staffed (department), you’re cutting out that travel time, so you’re getting a lot better response.”
Calls are otherwise handled the same, and volunteers and staff have the same qualifications and certifications, Fagan said, adding volunteers are also more likely to be local, while staff may be from outside the township.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on the relationship that we had with the Newbury residents. Over a period of 40 years, you get to know people,” he said, noting the department intends to carry on that same service and friendly relationship as they hire more people on.
“So far, the people that we’ve hired — and we’ve only had people on staff for August — it’s working out really well,” he said. “They’re very good with patients.”
The department is aiming to have two full-time employees and one part-time employee on every shift, Fagan said.
Fire inspections are another area that benefits from a staffed-department, the chief said, recalling how he used to have to inspect buildings on his own time, usually evenings or weekends.
The department will now not only be able to carry out inspections on a more regular basis, but will also be staffed around the clock, Fagan said, adding they had already helped a few people who had dropped by the station, one of whom was an elderly woman who got lost following the April tornadoes.
The township has already seen the benefit of faster response times.
“We had a call at 5 o’clock in the morning for a house fire. I was at home and I went direct from home to the fire. And (the staff) was here at the station, they got in the truck and, because of us being staffed, it was contained to just a room and contents fire,” Fagan said, noting he believes it would have spread more with a longer response time.
“It can only get better from here,” he said.
