Is Woodbridge closing 117-year-old fire company to save taxpayers — or clear way for redevelopment?

🔥Woodbridge officials voted to move ahead with closing Keasbey Fire District No. 4

🔥Township leaders cite concerns presented by a state inspection

🔥A final vote on dissolving the district is scheduled for Aug. 12.

WOODBRIDGE — A proposal to shut down one of New Jersey's oldest volunteer fire districts has sparked a political fight over whether the move is really about public safety and taxes — or the future of valuable redevelopment land.

Township officials say dissolving Keasbey Fire District 4 would improve emergency response, preserve firefighter jobs and save the average homeowner about $1,000 a year in property taxes. But opponents, including the district's fire chief and nearly 1,300 petition signers, argue the closure could pave the way for a warehouse project that has long eyed the property.

Keasbey Fire District 4 has protected the Keasbey section of Woodbridge since 1909.

According to Mayor John McCormac, a recent audit by the state Department of Community Affairs found the district faces many of the same challenges confronting volunteer fire companies across New Jersey: declining membership, long-term staffing concerns, rising personnel costs and fewer emergency calls.

"The report indicated the need for overtime staffing to maintain normal operational readiness and that long-term staffing concerns will impact operational capabilities. It also noted increasing costs for salaries, pensions, and fringe benefits and that any future staffing increase will be necessary and will increase the taxpayer burden," McCormac said during a special Township Council meeting on July 28.

The township's proposal would dissolve Fire District 4 and expand neighboring Fords Fire District 7. The eight full-time firefighters currently assigned to Keasbey would be reassigned to three other township firehouses, preserving their jobs.

The move would save the average home in Keasbey $1,000 a year in property taxes in 2027 even while improving response times to fires, McCormac said. Keasbey's fire tax burden is the highest among Woodbridge's nine fire districts.

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Opponents say redevelopment is the real goal

The proposal has drawn fierce opposition from Fire Chief John Manna and local residents.

An online petition opposing the closure has collected nearly 1,300 signatures. Supporters question why Keasbey was singled out for a state review and what happened to earlier plans to build a new firehouse.

Former Keasbey Fire Commissioner Dwayne P. Jensen told TAPinto Woodbridge he believes the district's fate was effectively decided years ago, after developer Stalwart Equities purchased roughly a dozen nearby homes that have since been demolished.

Jensen says those purchases were part of a broader plan to build a warehouse that would include the firehouse property.

McCormac has strongly denied that claim, telling News 12 that the recommendation is based solely on public safety, operational efficiency and taxpayer savings—not redevelopment.

The final vote is scheduled for Aug. 12.

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