After 12 difficult years of searching for a suitable home for the Whippany Fire Company, the company announces on August 12th, 2010, that it has at last found a location and a solution that will work for the department and the community.
The Fire Dept. was founded in 1915 and didn’t get their first firehouse till 1923 – the same firehouse that is currently being used. It has needed revisions about every 30 years, and we are at that 30 year point once again, though with more challenging problems than ever before.
It was through the hard work of our relocation committee that the need for a new fire station was determined. This committee looked at the challenges listed below; costs associated with repairs; lost man hours from preparing for flood activity; the number of close calls entering the highway and other facts.
1 The building itself is almost 100 years old; in need of many repairs and not energy efficient.
2 We are located in the middle of a flood zone.
3 We are 15 ft. from a 4 lane highway with no room on the apron to pull out an engine without being in the roadway.
4 The size of the facility itself is small, leaving little room for firefighters to suit up or for the positioning of fire vehicles.
5 We will also soon be surrounded by commercial development causing delays in response time, due to parking, and access issues.
The relocation committee has looked at other opportunities to relocate, but none have been either forthcoming or feasible, due to location or lack of construction revenue. A consultant study that was done for us determined that the best location for the Whippany Firehouse was at the corner of Troy Hills Rd and Route 10.
With the building of Whippany Village, a realistic opportunity has opened up to us – to relocate our fire company in a new firehouse on Troy Hills Rd, across from the new CVS. The new fire house will provide adequate facilities to accommodate the fire company for the next 100 years. It has been designed to take advantage of multiple green indicatives which will lower the operating costs. It will be fully up to current codes and standards. The total area will have approximately 21,200 square feet of habitable area. The plan includes: apparatus storage, department and commissioner offices, meeting/classroom area, 8" thick concrete slabs with floor drains and grease interceptor, workshop, locker room facility, gear storage, and equipment storage.
The most desirable financial option that is being pursued by the committee would be to have a zero impact on our community and the committee is still aggressively moving forward with this internal financial goal. The Whippany Fire Company’s commitment to firefighting and other services to this community will not change.
As the project progresses, we will provide frequent updates on our website:
