Volunteer Fire Fighters

LETTER FROM THE FIRE CHIEF (2023)

I was elected as 2nd Assistant Chief in 2021 and served alongside Chief DeLisa and Chief Bentley in both years 2021 and 2022 as the 1st Assistant Chief.  These were very crucial years as we were called upon and tasked to rebuild a nearly extinct volunteer fire department that had declined in the several years leading up to 2020.  This was not an easy task.  However, the rejuvenated energy, dedication, and commitment of our volunteer members was quite evident.  All they needed were the tools, training, and appreciation, and we assured they received this.

Although I often joked about Chief DeLisa “dragging” me into Office 3 years ago, I have to say that I am grateful he did.  I want to thank Chief DeLisa for giving me this experience and the opportunity to serve as the “The Big City Chief”.  It’s a true honor to now be amongst the many great Chiefs that have served before me.  I also want to thank him for taking charge of the very important mission of rebuilding the department and keeping the tradition alive.  He did an outstanding job, faced many challenges, and built a solid foundation for all to expand from.  I would like to thank my Assistant Chiefs, Buster Bentley, and Brian Budd, for all their hard work throughout the years.  I couldn’t have done it without them.   I remember sitting down with both of them in December, 2022 for a several hours and going over our 1-year strategic plan for 2023.  By the end of the night, the long list of items quickly appeared overwhelming and more like a several year plan.  I’m proud to say that we not only accomplished the plan, but we accomplished more than was planned.  As the old saying goes, “A plan without action isn’t a plan”.  The “action” in this case was all of our members.  The cooperation, dedication, and hard work by our active volunteer members and UFD members made this year a success.  I would like to thank all the Officers and members that continually responded to calls, held routine duty crews, participated in trainings, attended City events, led committees, and were there in a blink of an eye when something was needed.  There wasn’t one City event that the Fire Department didn’t come out to and represent.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Director William Broughton who was an instrumental part of the department’s success.  His presence in the City was a breath of fresh air.  It was reassuring to have someone in the position that is understanding, reasonable, that you can communicate with, and supports the department.  He was always available if something was needed whether it was day, night, or a weekend, and always trusted my decisions.  The same can be echoed for Mayor Pallone, the City Council, and B.A. Shirley, who were there from day 1 to support the department. They have all been there to answer my call at any time and want nothing more than the volunteers to continue to grow and expand in the City.  

In 2023 I was elected as the Department Chief.  It was a great honor to lead the great firefighters of the City of Long Branch, both Uniformed Fire Division and the Volunteer firefighters.  Our firefighters worked hard this year as a team, made huge progress, and were able to make some big achievements.  Weekly duty crews were often organized, members continually trained, and apparatus was consistently on the road.  More importantly, calls were answered, fires were aggressively and efficiently extinguished, member response to scenes was organized and orderly, and everyone worked together to get the job done without complaining.  As an incident commander and Department Chief I could not ask for more.  The system clearly works when members are empowered, provided with the tools they need, and treated with respect.

During the year of 2023 we continued the focus on rebuilding the department, recruitment of new members, and training jointly as a whole department, both volunteer and career.  This year also set a milestone in which the Fire Department budget responsibility was assigned back to the Department Chief for the first time since over 10 years ago.  I took great pride in this and thank the Mayor and Business Administrator for putting their trust in my leadership.  Countless hours were spent in periodically auditing, organizing, modifying, and modernizing the budget, which ultimately led to thousands of dollars in savings.  The failing apparatus maintenance plan that had been in place for years was revisited.  Numerous new quotes were acquired and vendors outsourced resulting in more competitive purchases, repairs, and new partnerships.  A new preventative maintenance plan was set in place and overseen by Assistant Chief Bentley and Lt. Butch Guzzi.  This maintenance plan not only saved the Fire Department and City thousands of dollars, but assured that every single apparatus was maintained yearly as opposed to prior years, and ultimately resulted in functioning apparatus on the road.  Due to the diligent budget oversight, we were also finally able to purchase much needed equipment for all of our Companies by the end of the year.

During the year of 2023 we were able to make huge progress and accomplish many goals.  To highlight just a few of the accomplishments this year, WE:

• Applied for the American Rescue Plan Grant Award and were awarded $73,000.  This award will be used for the purchase of 16 sets of gear, hoods, boots, and structural firefighting gloves in 2024.
• Applied for the Joey DiBernardo Memorial Grant and were awarded $25,000.  This award was used to purchase 33 bailout kits, 33 Gemtor harnesses, and secured funding for training for all of our firefighters.  This is the first time in the department’s history that every single firefighter will be outfitted with kits and trained.
• Applied for the American Water Company Grant and were awarded $2,500.  This award was used to purchase 43 extrication gloves.  We outfitted every active firefighter with extrication gloves for the first time in the department’s history.
• Formulated and submitted a 15-year apparatus and command vehicle replacement plan.
• Formulated and submitted a Capital request for several larger important items, ultimately receiving a SCBA recharging station and new Knox vaults for all apparatus, as well as approval for the purchase of a new ladder truck.
• Established and implemented a brand new standardized yearly apparatus driver requalification program in accordance with NFPA and held 3 live fire trainings.
• Reviewed, updated, and made important changes to the City Fire Ordinance and began SOP updates.
• The Mutual Aid Response Plan was revised and updated to better suite the Department’s operational needs.
• Recruited 6 new members that were pending acceptance into the fire academy.
• Performed preventative maintenance on every single apparatus this year (first time in many years).
• Performed all major and numerous minor repairs including pump defects on every single apparatus.
• Equipped every apparatus with new state of the art Knox Box vaults via requested Capital funds. 
• Retrofitted Engines 2572, 2577, 2585, and Ladder 2590 with LED headlights and in addition added 2 LED scene lights and a LED brow light to Engine 2577.
• Purchased 12 new Elkhart low pressure 7/8” nozzles, equipping each engine with two for the primary attack lines.
• Every active company was able to submit a wish list of needed items.  These wish lists were all mostly honored.  Numerous tools were purchased including several thermal imaging cameras and multi gas meters.
• Purchased turnout gear for our 10 members (separate from the additional pending 16 sets from the grant).
• Purchased and ordered a brand new SCBA Recharging Station installed at Fire Headquarters via requested capital funds.
• Purchased additional dry suits for the UFD to be properly equipped for water rescues.
• Fire Police received numerous equipment and a floor drawer system for the new van.
• Purchased high quality cancer prevention Nomex hoods for every active firefighter.
• Received the approval for the purchase of a new Ladder truck for 2024 and committee formed.

I can say completing my term in December was a bittersweet moment for me.  However, I am proud of all that WE accomplished as team not only in the year of 2023, but during the last three years of this Department’s rebuilding.  As I always said, if you do what’s right, do it with character, treat all with respect, and don’t ever allow complacency to prevail, success will follow.  And do not forget: “Leave the place better than how you found it”.  I can truly say we did that.

Thank you,

Miguel Guarda

Department Chief 2023