$3.6M more sought: Budget alarms firemen Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/03/00 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TRENTON -- Two months ago, firefighters with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service raced to the scene of a 60-acre blaze climbing a rocky forest slope along the Kittatinny Ridge in Walpack Valley. There they were stopped by federal rangers. The fire was on federal land, and most of the 40 state firefighters lacked safety gear required by the U.S. government. So Tuesday, some of these firefighters ventured to the Statehouse to make it plain that their equipment is outdated, their staff is stretched too thin and many lack the safety gear that federal authorities have been mandating since a 1994 disaster in Colorado claimed 14 lives. The New Jersey firefighters eventually did go in to knock down the Walpack blaze, but only after driving 15 miles out of their way to the headquarters of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, where rangers handed out Nomex fire retardant coveralls, shrouds, helmets and flame shelters. State Environmental Commissioner Robert C. Shinn Jr. yesterday told the Assembly Appropriations Committee of plans to budget money for the fire service, but the state proposal falls far short, said John Rieth, a deputy fire chief from Atlantic Highlands at the hearing in Trenton. "They have nine new vehicles on the budget this year and nine next year, which is just barely enough to keep the fleet going," Rieth said. The last "brush truck" purchased by the state was a 1993 model, said Charles Aughenbaugh, president of the New Jersey Deputy Fire Chiefs Association, which has been pushing for more fire service funding. "The average mileage on these trucks is 120,000 to 150,000 miles, and those are not miles driven to Grandma's house. These are hard miles in the woods," he said. Peter Page, a DEP spokesman, said Shinn was unaware of these complaints before yesterday. "The commissioner has agreed to review what they have to say and consider whether we have to shift money around to meet other equipment needs," Page said. The proposed budget provides $4 million for the fire service, which has 88 full-timers and a roster of 1,050 seasonal part-timers standing by to fight fires around the clock. The budget includes $1.9 million for equipment, including nine new trucks. But Aughenbaugh said a one-time grant of an additional $3.6 million is needed for new equipment to outfit all firefighters with safety gear, to replace old trucks and to repair grounded helicopters and equip them with smoke vision equipment. "The situation is serious. We do not want to lose a firefighter in the state of New Jersey," he said. He said the $3.6 million could be used to replace 24 fire trucks and 10 bulldozers, and to hire 19 more full-timers as firefighters and fire wardens. He said the current Department of Environmental Protection budget proposal would add 16 state park rangers but only one firefighter. A bill sponsored by state Sen. Leonard T. Connors Jr., R-Ocean, would appropriate $850,000 to start easing equipment problems, and Aughenbaugh said he'll appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee today to ask for the $3.6 million his group recommends. The deputy chiefs argue their "front-loaded budget" will solve the fire service's problems for many years to come. Atlantic Highlands' Rieth said the deputy chiefs association wants to give some legislators a tour: "We're going to try and arrange for some of these people to come out in the field and see for themselves." Staff writer Kirk Moore contributed to this story.