Fanwood Fire Department Shapes Up Its Web Site

Wondering why those fire trucks are rushing down the street?

Of course you can always check Patch for the latest news on local fires, but now the Fanwood Fire Department is striving to keep its own Web site up-to-date with the latest details about its crew's work.

The fire department debuted a new site earlier this year, and ever since it's been building it up with news and photos from recent fires, safety tips for local residents, and much more. The department had a Web site prior to the update, but that one was maintained by the borough. After the Fanwood Rescue Squad debuted a much-improved site of its own recently, the Fanwood Fire Department decided to follow suit.

Fanwood firefighter Sean Manette is behind the new online look.

"We're hoping residents will be able to get a sense of what we're doing," he told Patch. "We want to keep them posted by putting up pictures of fires we go to. They also don't realize how involved we are with mutual aid in Union County."

The new site features a variety of information about the department's latest activities. For instance, Manette has already updated the site with details about a fire the department responded to on Hunter Avenue Friday evening. Photos from its pancake breakfast Saturday morning are also up now. He also posted words of advice about power strips after firefighters responded to a home on March 31 where one had overheated and started smoking.

"We want to make it as current as possible, and applicable to the time of year," Manette said. After spring rain storms hit our area hard, Manette updated the site with information about sump pump maintenance. Firefighters encountered several faulty ones while helping residents battle basement flooding in March.

The site includes more than just late-breaking news, though. Manette said he's also been gradually adding photos and stories about the department's past. The site currently has a section chronicling the department's apparatus history, which started with horse-drawn wagons in the 1890's. Its first motor-driven fire engine was a 1923 REO Speedwagon, purchased for $4,469 at a time when only six members of the fire company had drivers licenses.

"We're still working on it," Manette said of the site. "We want to show the goings-on in our community, but also plan to show that the department is very old – it goes back to the late 1800's – and we're putting up photos from a long time ago."

Aside from just being a basic information Web site, Manette acknowledged the department hopes it will be a good way to attract potential volunteers. He's also hoping to add a functionality that will allow donations to the fire department to be made directly on the site.

"We're hoping that people will come on the site, get some information, then consider reaching out to us and see if it's something they're interested in," he said.

Manette admits he's no computer genius, but he's taught himself the ins and outs of the template to make it functional and useful for the fire department. Mayor Colleen Mahr acknowledged at a recent council meeting that the Rescue Squad's new Web site puts the borough's own site to shame. The new fire department Web site mirrors the Rescue Squad's online success.

"People might have general questions about us, and they can send a message through the site and either I'll respond or the chief or assistant chief will," Manette said. "We're all residents of the community, and we're all neighbors. Obviously the whole concept is to be there for people and get them to check the site once in a while to see information."