Volunteer Crisis Leads To Lakehurst Fire Company Shutdown

LAKEHURST, NJ — For 113 years, volunteers have staffed the fire trucks of the Lakehurst Fire Department, responding to calls in this tiny borough for everything from a smoking appliance to structure fires.

In recent months, however, having enough volunteers to staff a truck has become increasingly difficult.

On Wednesday, the Lakehurst Fire Department shut down in what Mayor Harry Robbins said is a temporary move, after the fire department reached a crisis point in mid-March.

The department's fire chief and assistant fire chief resigned from their leadership roles on March 12, and while the borough scrambled to get a chief in place temporarily, that only lasted a few days before the situation fell apart.

"We were blindsided," Robbins said of the issues in the department. "I wish they had come to us and talked to us first."

Fire Chief Sean Parker told the Borough Council on Thursday night the reason he was stepping down was that the inability to staff a truck had stressed him beyond reason.

Of the last 12 fire calls — four in the borough and eight mutual aid — that Lakehurst had been asked to respond to, the fire department had been able to send a truck to one call, Councilman Robert McCarthy said.

Under New Jersey regulations, there must be four firefighters on a firetruck for it to respond to a call, Councilman Brian DiMeo said.

The fire department had a roster of about 15 volunteers, Councilman Steven Oglesby said. Two of those members resigned at the end of March, and their resignations were accepted at the council meeting Thursday.

Having enough volunteers to respond to emergencies — both fire and emergency medical services — has become increasingly difficult, particularly with the cost of living, Oglesby said.

"People are working two and even three jobs to make ends meet," he said.

That makes it difficult for someone to volunteer time at a moment's notice when the call goes out for an emergency in the community.

Robbins said the borough has mutual aid agreements in place with Manchester Township's fire companies and with the Joint Base Fire Department. He said that the borough will continue to have fire coverage "similar to what we are accustomed to."

In response to a resident's question, Robbins said the mutual aid agreement with Manchester does not come with a financial commitment from Lakehurst.

The borough will make sure the fire department's bills get paid while officials try to find a solution that allows the department to resume serving the community, Robbins said.

That resolution is a ways off, he said, because it's not just a matter of finding people willing and able to volunteer with the squad. Any new volunteers will need to be trained, and firefighter training takes 6 to 8 months to meet the requirements in the state of New Jersey.

Other state requirements are making matters more difficult, DiMeo said, including one that requires them to respond to more calls, a function of the population density of the borough.

Lakehurst has about 2,750 residents living with borders, which encompass about nine-tenths of a square mile, according to the World Population website.

In 2025, the Lakehurst Fire Department had about 100 calls for service, DiMeo said. They've had nearly that number in 2026 already, he said.

"The state decides stuff that isn't attainable," DiMeo said. "They make these rules without talking with the people on the front lines."

Oglesby, who is on the board of the Lakehurst First Aid Squad, said the difficulty in getting enough volunteers is affecting the first aid squad as well.

"Instead of holding fundraising drives, we are holding personnel drives," he said. While there have been people who have expressed interest in volunteering, they have not followed through when they learn about the training requirements, Oglesby said.

Training for emergency medical technicians has become more extensive and is costly, and there is little financial support to encourage volunteers to go through the effort, first responders have said for several years.

While some towns have begun adding paid services — Manchester Township has paid firefighters during the day and paid emergency medical technicians, and Brick and Toms River have paid EMTs — the cost of forming a paid fire department in Lakehurst is unaffordable, Robbins and the council members said.

"Our police department budget is $3 million," DiMeo said. "It would cost $12 million for the town to put four people on a (fire) truck."

"Volunteers are becoming scarce all over the state," McCarthy said. "We were just the latest victim."