Maplewood and South Orange will celebrate the culmination of years of planning and negotiations, aided by state agencies and challenged by local fire unions, when the towns formally celebrate the creation of the South Essex Fire Department on October 9.
The newly formed South Essex Fire Department — in operation since July 1 — is a merger of the former Maplewood Fire Department and South Orange Fire Department. In September, the new SEFD added nine new firefighters/EMTs, all of whom started work on September 19.
In June, Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis said of the merger, “This is historic for the state of New Jersey and shared services. This has never been done before like this. This is truly a historic moment. It took a lot of work and we hope and we think it will inspire other consolidations and certainly regionalization of our fire departments.”
From SouthOrange.org:
South Essex Fire Department Celebration
October 9, 2022. 1 PM – 4 PM. 56 Sloan St, South Orange, NJ 07079
Join South Orange and Maplewood for a community celebration of the newly-merged South Essex Fire Department which coincides with the first day of Fire Prevention Week — celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Come meet our firefighters and enjoy complimentary food, ice, cream, music, inflatables, crafts, corn hole, lots of giveaways, fire safety demonstrations, station house tours, and pictures on the fire engines and ladders trucks!
The formal ceremony and swearing-in of new firefighters will begin at 2:30 p.m. We will have many special guests!
