New Bayonne Fire Department Battalion Chiefs:  Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Fire Department leadership posed with the department’s newly promoted battalion chiefs (BC’s). Pictured left to right: Mayor Jimmy Davis, Fire Chief Keith Weaver, BC Christopher Czuba, BC Theodore Wolf, BC Michael Smith, BC Edward Ratyniak, BC Roger Nunez, BC Marcial Pivano, Deputy Fire Chief William Bartos, and Public Safety Director Robert Kubert. 

      New Bayonne Fire Department Captains:  Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Fire Department leadership posed with the department’s new captains: Mayor Davis, Fire Chief Keith Weaver, Captain Steven Pilanski, Captain Timothy Lynch, Captain James Pilger, Captain David Sisk, Captain Brian Petty, Captain Jeffrey Spengler, Captain Thomas Weber, Captain Richard Baccarella, Captain Michael Visone, Captain Brian Cotter, Captain Kevin Pietranico, Deputy Chief William Bartos, and Public Safety Director Robert Kubert. 

    The new battalion chiefs are Christopher Czuba, Theodore Wolf, Michael Smith, Edward Ratyniak, Roger Nunez, and Marcial Pivano.

           Battalion Chief Christopher Czuba is a graduate of Bayonne High School. He earned a degree in HVAC Technology at Lincoln Technical Institute. He was appointed to the Bayonne Fire Department in 1999. His extensive training and certifications include: Hazardous Material Tech, Confined Space, Fire Officer 2, Fire Official, and Fire Investigator.  He has earned several awards including Unit Citations for rescue on June 6, 2004 on 30^th St. and Kennedy Blvd., and a Team Effort Award from the Cooperman Barnabas Burn Center for the rescue of a person who was trapped in rising floodwaters of Hurricane Ida in September 2021.

The post Bayonne Fire Department Holds Promotion Ceremony for Battalion Chiefs and Captains first appeared on River View Observer.

Firefighter Brodel was on hand today at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of Bayonne New Jersey’s first new firehouse in over 40 years a 3.5 million dollar state of the art firehouse which will service and protect the Bayonne community for years to come.

The post Bayonne New Jersey’s First Female Firefighter in 108 Year Fire Department History first appeared on River View Observer.

The post Statewide Fire Prevention award presented to Bayonne Board of Education and Bayonne Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau: first appeared on River View Observer.

This past February, firefighters with the Bayonne Fire Department and a number of firefighters from the Paterson Fire Department made their way out to Garret Mountain Reservation in Woodland Park New Jersey to be trained as Ice Rescue Technicians, and to become qualified Ice Rescue Trainers.

 Trainees made their way onto the thin ice of Barbour Pond, under the experienced guidance of trainers from a Sparta New Jersey based company called Firefighter-One. The firemen, wearing thermal protective rescue suits, cut holes in the ice to prepare for simulated rescue activities. Many firefighters took turns being the mock victim in the hole, while the rescuers worked a number of rescue techniques on the ice and from the shore to pull the victim to safety.

 The training went on for five days, and was funded by a Federal Port Security Grant. Two days of classroom activity was followed by three days on the ice. The firefighters involved were issued Ice Rescue Training Credentials giving the Fire Department the ability to further train other members at no additional cost.

 In the weeks that followed, the newly credentialed Bayonne Fire Department Ice/Rescue instructors provided classroom training to approximately fifty on-duty members of the Bayonne Fire Department. An elite group of Bayonne Firefighters, under the direction of the new trainers and with the assistance of volunteer members of the Byram Fire Department, gathered in Byram Township New Jersey at Cranberry Lake for four days of ice-rescue training on the ice. A total of twenty-two, on-duty firefighters from Bayonne, were trained to a higher level as Ice Rescue Technicians.

 The rescuers became proficient with ice-rescue techniques, and were given further opportunity for hands-on experience with their cache of water rescue equipment funded by a separate (AFG) Assistance to Firefighters Grant.

 Mayor Mark Smith: “  “ Director Jason Oâ€Donnell: “  “Chief Rogers: “Each winter we generally hear reports from across the State of people breaking through thin ice. This past winter, two children lost their lives on Budd Lake, and in February – an adult lost his life on Iosco Lake in Bloomingdale when the ice failed. Ice rescue training for Bayonne Firefighters is the natural progression of our Water Rescue initiative that has been ongoing for the last few years. Our water rescue initiative paid off during Superstorm Sandy, as properly trained and equipped Firefighters rescued over 100 people by boat from their flooded vehicles and homes. It is our responsibility to be prepared, and Ice Rescue Training will ready our firefighters to protect our citizens from the hazards of ice formation along our shores, near docks and marinas, at waterfront commercial sites, and community parks.”

 

Pictures Attached: Group Shot

L-R: Captain Howard Frank, Captain Jack Lopez, FF Al Liani, FF Ted Wolf,

FF Tom Reynolds, FF Roger Nunez

The post Bayonne Fire Department trained for Ice Rescue Emergencies first appeared on River View Observer.

For more information, call the Blood Center of New Jersey at 1-800-NJ-BLOOD, Ext. 140.

=

The post Blood Drive on Monday, April 16, at Bayonne’s 27th Street Fire House first appeared on River View Observer.

Mayor Mark A. Smith announced today that the Bayonne Police Department Special Investigation Unit (SIU), in conjunction with the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Washington Township Police Department, executed a search warrant in Oxford, NJ, at the home of Bayonne Firefighter Kenneth Eisenhauer. The warrant was the culmination of a detailed and ongoing narcotics investigation that was initiated by the Bayonne Police Department, and conducted with the assistance of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s Newark Field Division. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Eisenhauer and his wife, Roseanne Eisenhauer. The couple was charged with maintaining a marijuana cultivation facility, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Warren County Prosecutor’s Office additionally charged the Eisenhauers with child neglect.

The Bayonne Police SIU had obtained information that Firefighter Eisenhauer had attempted to obtain a variety of controlled dangerous substances through the Internet from international sources. It was discovered that he had represented his wife falsely as a research scientist in an effort to obtain the materials illegally. The SIU determined that a number of these attempts took place while Eisenhauer was on duty as a firefighter.

Mayor Smith commended the Bayonne Police SIU for their tenacity in following up on the information they obtained and in completing the investigation that resulted in the arrests. The Mayor also thanked the cooperating law enforcement agencies for their involvement. “As soon as we identified a problem, we moved swiftly to address it,” said Smith.

Firefighter Eisenhauer has been suspended without pay pending his termination. Mayor Smith said, “If you break the law, you don’t work for Bayonne.”

The post Bayonne Police Investigation Leads to Arrest of Firefighter first appeared on River View Observer.

Our River View Observer’s roaming photographer caught this unusual mishap at the 14 A exit of the New Jersey Turnpike  on Sunday October 18th.

The Bayonne  and State Police along with the Bayonne Fire Department were there to lend a hand. No one got hurt from what we hear.

The post Odd Crash On New Jersey Turnpike first appeared on River View Observer.

The life of a firefighter is no easy task, skillfully trained they put out hazardous fires and immediately come to the rescue of the communities they work for, but in order to accomplish this they must have the facilities needed to do so.

In the winter of 2008 firefighters of two former Bayonne firehouses were relocated to the Peninsula and were currently responding to emergencies from a temporary facility which consisted of a tent and two trailers, determine and dedicated they work effortlessly under these conditions. Seemingly it seemed no hope was in store, but thanks to the collaborated efforts of Mayor Mark Smith, Fire Chief Greg Rogers, Chris Patella and a great congressional team of U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg, Robert Menendez and Congressman Albio Sires, Bayonne has received the sixth highest grant award in the nation.

The $3.5 million Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) grant know as the (SCG) Fire Station Construction Grant was created to assist applicants with the building and reconstruction of fire stations and is part of the stimulus package known as the (ARRA) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is intended to provide a stimulus to the U.S. economy in the wake of an economic downturn.

In selecting grant recipients the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) gives high priority to projects that would replace unsafe or uninhabitable structures and expand fire protection coverage.

In a public announcement held on October 5th in front of the City Hall Fire Station, Senator Frank Lautenberg explained ,”This investment in Bayonne’s public safety infrastructure will provide firefighters with the facilities they need to best protect the community. Securing one of the largest firehouse construction grants in the country will improve conditions for Bayonne firefighters and help them continue their tradition of excellence”, he concluded.

Senator Robert Menendez also commented on this great accomplishment, “With this badly needed investment, those who deserve our attention most are getting the help they need, and Bayonne and all of us in New Jersey are the beneficiaries.”

In a collaborate effort both New Jersey senators and Congressman Sires worked together to bring to Bayonne much needed relief in these tough economic times. Bayonne Fire Chief Greg Rogers was extremely grateful and proud of this amazing stride, he explained, “Today is the day I’ve been waiting for; a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I am proud to say, the men of the Bayonne Fire Department stationed at the Peninsula, will no longer operate from the inadequate confines of a tent and trailers, but will elevate to a new dignified and highly functional modern day state-of-the-art fire station.
“I am privileged today, to find myself in the company of high-ranking dignitaries, Senator Lautenburg, Senator Menendez, Representative Albio Sires, and Mayor Mark Smith. They are all here today in support of this victory, and it is clear, that by their collective support, we’ve achieved this success.”

Congressman Albio Sires also commented on this incredible accomplishment, “Our new station will increase the capabilities of Bayonne’s fire department to protect communities from fire hazards while at the same time creating jobs and healing the 13th district’s economy. I am happy to have supported Bayonne’s application for this grant earlier this month. I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has recognized the value of this project to our district‘s security and economic growth”, he concluded.

The funds received from this grant will go towards the building of a new state-of-the-art fire station. The plan consist of building a new 15,000 square foot facility on a 1.8 acre vacant lot northeast of the current temporary location.

As Mayor Mark Smith address his audience he explained, “This important grant will allow us to build a brand new fire station to meet the needs of our community without an increase in property taxes.” “Senator Lautenberg, Senator Menedez and Congressman Sires have once again, proven themselves to be true friends of New Jersey’s citizens by looking out for the public safety of our children, our families and our senior citizens. They are a great congressional team, who fought hard for the City of Bayonne.”

The post Bayonne Fire Department Receives the Sixth Highest Grant Award in the Nation $3.5.M first appeared on River View Observer.