Perth Amboy Fire Department
As one of the oldest fire departments in Middlesex County, serving since 1881, the Perth Amboy Fire Department provides fire protection, EMS, and rescue services for the 4.5 square mile city of Perth Amboy, NJ.
In 1890, the City of Perth Amboy hired the first Paid Firefighters. These members were initially hired to tend to the firehouses and the horses that pulled the fire apparatus. They also drove the apparatus to the alarm locations. Some of the required equipment that the paid firefighters were responsible for having at a fire scene was enough wood to maintain a fire in the boiler of the fire engines to maintain the steam to run the fire pump.
Today the City’s Fire Department is an ISO Class 3 Department upgraded from a Class 4, effective June 2018. The Department comprises a career force that is NFPA 1710 compliant, currently consisting of 72 full-time paid firefighters/EMTs that serve under the Fire Chief, that respond from Fire Headquarters. The Department staffs two engine companies, a ladder company, a rescue company, and an incident command vehicle 24/7, providing fire suppression, hazardous materials response, emergency medical first responder, technical rescue, industrial fire response, marine fire rescue services, and SCUBA dive rescue & recovery. The Department has a reserve fleet consisting of three spare engines and one spare ladder, also staffed during multiple alarm fires with an emergency overtime recall. A fireboat is part of the New Jersey Regional Fireboat Task Force, which protects the waterways and waterfront properties as Perth Amboy is part of the Port of New York and New Jersey and has critical infrastructure right on the water.
The Fire Department runs the Bureau of Fire Prevention. This unit currently consists of a Fire Official and 17 Inspectors responsible for handling all of the Life Hazard Use and Non-Life Hazard Use inspections, permits, and UFC code compliances throughout the City, as all complaint inspections are brought to their attention. In 2022, 4,755 fire inspections were completed throughout the City. The Fire Investigation Unit also investigates all fires within the City to determine the origin & cause.