By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Time is critical for firefighters, even if it’s just a minute or two. The faster they can rush to the scene of an emergency, the better their chances of saving lives and property during a fire.
Sea Isle City pays members of its volunteer fire department to work 12-hour overnight shifts during the summer tourism season, holidays and on weekends to improve emergency response times during what are traditionally the busiest months of the year in the resort town.
The overnight crews were started two years ago, and by all accounts have been successful, city officials say. As the next step in the program, Sea Isle is building four separate bunk rooms at the fire station next to City Hall to accommodate firefighters who work the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift.
City Council voted Tuesday to add nearly $45,000 to what had originally been a $169,000 construction contract to make the bunk rooms larger and to add storage space.
The separate rooms will allow male and female firefighters to have their own sleeping quarters when working the overnight shift.
The night crews create a hybrid model consisting of volunteers in the day and paid firefighters for the overnight shift. Firefighters are each paid $160 for each night they work, city officials say.
“It’s a good hybrid,” City Business Administrator George Savastano said.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio announced during the Council meeting that the bunk rooms are expected to be substantially finished in May. Completion of the project will coincide with the start of the summer tourism season, when Sea Isle’s population swells from 2,100 year-round residents to about 50,000 to 70,000 visitors on the weekends.
Desiderio said the overnight crews boost public safety and give residents more confidence when they see firefighters at the firehouse at different times of the day or night.
“I think it works out great,” he said of the overnight crews.
City Council approved an ordinance in 2021 creating a payment program for volunteer firefighters who are part of the overnight shift. Overall, the cost of the program is capped at $30,000 per month, according to the ordinance.
The overnight crews were part of the fire department’s restructuring following four separate fires in 2017, 2018 and 2019 that destroyed a total of nine single-family homes or duplexes. One of the fires killed an elderly woman on 54th Street in November 2018.
Normally, Sea Isle’s volunteer firefighters must drive to the fire station from their homes or jobs after the alarm goes off, a process that adds time for responding to emergencies. Some of them live offshore and must contend with heavy traffic heading into Sea Isle during the peak summer season and on holidays.
By having crews stationed at the firehouse, they are able to respond to emergencies much faster.
“We have a lot of volunteers who come from offshore – all the more reason for having the overnight duty crews,” Desiderio said. “It especially counts in the summer and on weekends, because of the traffic getting into town.”
In the meantime, the firefighters have been using the beds in their meeting room at the fire station during overnight shifts. Female firefighters have separate sleeping quarters.
Police Chief Anthony Garreffi, who oversees Sea Isle’s public safety, said the overnight crews are already working on holiday weekends. In May, they will be available on all weekends.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the plan is have overnight crews on duty every night. After Labor Day, they will cut back to weekends and holidays, Garreffi said.
Garreffi noted that the overnight crews can rush to an emergency within minutes to quickly begin battling a fire. Then they are reinforced by other volunteers as they arrive on the scene later on.
“The volunteers show up to replenish them at the scene,” he said.
When asked whether he thought the overnight fire crews have been successful in improving public safety, Garreffi responded, “Absolutely.”
