Flemington-Raritan First Aid and Rescue Squad

Get Ready! The 8th Annual HealthQuest/FRFARS Truck Pull Returns Sunday November 15th, 2026.

Join a team of up to 12 pullers or build your own team with 11friends to test your strength AND speed. Teams compete to pull the 68,000 pound Heavy Rescue 495 fifty yards in the fastest possible time.

Not old enough to compete in Truck Pull? No problem! A smaller Kids' Pull event for participants between 5 and 15 years of age will also be planned.

Open to the public, no membership needed. Spectators always free. See the QR codes below to register.

Thank you to our partners at HealthQuest Fitness Club for working with us to make this great event a reality nearly ten years running!

On Thursday 10 September 2026 at 0853 Hours, Heavy Rescue 495 was requested mutual aid into Hillsborough Township in Somerset County on Montgomery Road near Amwell Road to assist with a commercial vehicle extrication. Heavy Rescue 495, Utility 495 and Chief 495 responded. Flagtown Fire Company #1, Hillsborough Fire District, and RWJ EMS were on the scene.

Upon arrival, Chief Hoffman met with the incident commander and performed a quick size-up of how the driver was pinned. The septic truck had crashed into a tree. The impact broke the mounts of the tank which had slid forward and crushed the cab of the truck, pinning the driver between the cab rear wall, driver's seat, dash board and steering column.

A plan was quickly put into play to free the driver. A ten foot chain was wrapped around both B pillars. A TU17 Griphoist was rigged in a 2:1 configuration and anchored to a frame cross-member at the rear of the truck. Once the roof structure was secured, both A pillars were cut and the whole cab roof and rear wall assembly were carefully winched back and out of the way. Once the cab was out of the way, the seat was manually slid back. This created sufficient space for the patient to be safely extricated and moved to the ambulance. RWJ EMT's and Paramedics provided care throughout the disentanglement operations with assistance from the NJSP NorthSTAR flight crew.

Cooperation between all of the agencies involved provided for a successful rescue. Rescue Squad units were available in about sixty minutes.

Yesterday, the Rescue Squad took delivery of the "new" BLS Ambulance 4954. This unit is a rechassis and refurbishment of an existing ambulance which provides a significant savings over the purchase of an entirely new vehicle.

The patient module is originally a 2004 unit that was refurbished in 2015. With the box solid and in good condition structurally, it was decided to go through the refurbishment process again. The module was remounted on a new 2026 Ford E450 chassis. The exterior was repainted and relettered. The interior was refurbished with new upholstery, counter tops and flooring.

If we didn't say otherwise, it looks like a brand new rig. But going with this process saved over $100k compared to an entirely new unit. BLS Ambulance 4955 (which is the "twin" to 4954) will go out shortly for the same treatment, hopefully being finished by January. The Rescue Squad is paying for 4954 through donations, Flemington Borough is paying for 4955 through capital donations, and Raritan Township has a new ambulance on order for us that will hopefully be delivered in early 2027 to replace 4951 which is basically on life support at this point.

Each of the Squad's five ambulances are evaluated at about the ten year mark to determine whether they should be replaced entirely or refurbished. This decision is made based on the overall condition of the chassis as well as the patient care module. Ten years coincides with about 100k miles and a tough life. The ambulance assignments are rotated each week to try and equal out the wear and tear to extend their service.

For residents and businesses in our community, the Rescue Squad's Annual Fund Drive is in the mail this week. Please help support our operations!!

AUGUST 2026 STATISTICS

August 2026 was another busy month for the Rescue Squad. For the month of August, the Rescue Squad responded to 306 emergency calls. So far for the year, the Rescue Squad has responded to 2498 emergency calls, an increase of 3.2% compared to the same eight month period during 2025.

The calls by municipality for August were as follows:
Flemington Borough - 61
Raritan Township - 218
Readington Township - 1
Delaware Township - 10
East Amwell Township - 10
City of Lambertville - 1
West Amwell Township - 1
Franklin Township - 1
Out of County - 1

During August, the Rescue Squad's volunteer EMT's provided 1137 hours of duty time, with the Squad's career staff providing an additional 1805 hours of duty time to maintain our in-house staffed ambulances. There is always one staffed ambulance on duty at all times, with two and sometimes three staffed during peak call volume times. Our average response time remains among the fastest in the county and state, at 7:40 minutes average from dispatch to arriving on scene. (Hunterdon County average is 17 minutes / State average is 15 minutes per NJ DOH EMS). This average includes second, third and "scramble crew" calls. The Squad's volunteer EMT's have contributed 8251 hours of duty time during the first eight months of 2026. These volunteer hours only account for duty crew time and do not include the hours spent on training and other Squad activities.

The Rescue Squad made 365 vehicle responses in August 2026. 2874 vehicle responses have been made during the first eight months of 2026. The Rescue Squad made contact with 272 patients and Squad ambulances transported 213 patients to the hospital in August. So far this year, the Rescue Squad has transported 1736 patients.

During August, the Rescue Squad provided EMS stand-by services to several large community events. The Squad's Rescue Services Unit conducted one in-house rescue drill and hosted the Hunterdon County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force monthly training exercise as well as the full-scale quarterly exercise that involved a trench rescue scenario. Several serious motor vehicle crashes were handled by the Squad. A monthly EMS drill and a "Thirds" / Junior Member drill was conducted as well. The Rescue Squad also took delivery of our refurbished BLS Ambulance 4954 on Monday 31 August. This project was funded by donations from the community. It should be ready for service following equipment transfer and state inspections in the next couple of weeks. BLS Ambulance 4955 is scheduled for refurbishment next using funds from Flemington Borough. It should be completed by early 2027. A new ambulance to replace existing BLS Ambulance 4951 is scheduled to arrive in January 2027. This ambulance is being funded by Raritan Township.

We are always looking for people who want to help serve their community as volunteer emergency medical technicians. If you think you might be interested in joining the Squad, check out www.frfars.org/join for additional information.

JOIN | 49 Rescue The Flemington-Raritan First Aid & Rescue Squad is equipped with five state-of-the-art 911 BLS ambulances and several specialized rescue and support units

The Rescue Squad hosted the monthly Hunterdon County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force drill on Thursday evening. The drill reviewed confined space rescue equipment and pre-entry operations. These monthly drills are attended by all task force member agencies and are intended to review equipment and procedures in the different disciplines of technical rescue.

This morning, the Rescue Squad also hosted the quarterly full-scale exercise. These drills are scenario-based operations to test proficiency and note areas for improving. Today's exercise involved a trench rescue operation at a site in Raritan Township.

The Hunterdon County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force is made up of Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad, Whitehouse Rescue Squad, Readington, NJ, South Branch Emergency Services, Inc. and Hunterdon County Public Safety. HCUSAR has the training and equipment to operate at the technician-level in heavy vehicle, industrial entrapments, rope and rescue from heights, confined space, trench, flood, swiftwater and ice rescue. Many of the team members are trained to the technician level in structural collapse and also serve with New Jersey FEMA USAR Task Force 1.

THE TRAINING NEVER ENDS...

JULY 2026 STATISTICS
July 2026 was another busy month for the Rescue Squad! 2026 is setting up as another record-setting year for the Rescue Squad.

For the month of July, the Rescue Squad responded to 318 emergency calls, up from 310 calls or 2.5% compared to July 2025. So far for the year, the Rescue Squad has responded to 2192 emergency calls, an increase of 6.5% compared to the same seven month period during 2025.

The calls by municipality for July were as follows:
Flemington Borough - 82
Raritan Township - 191
Readington Township - 2
Delaware Township - 27
East Amwell Township - 9
City of Lambertville - 1
West Amwell Township - 1
Franklin Township - 1
Out of County - 1

During July, the Rescue Squad's volunteer EMT's provided 1182 hours of duty time, with the Squad's career staff providing an additional 1808 hours of duty time to maintain our in-house staffed ambulances. There is always one staffed ambulance on duty at all times, with two and sometimes three staffed during peak call volume times. Our average response time remains among the fastest in the county and state, at 7:40 minutes average from dispatch to arriving on scene. (Hunterdon County average is 17 minutes / State average is 15 minutes per NJ DOH EMS). This average includes second, third and "scramble crew" calls. The Squad's volunteer EMT's have contributed 7114 hours of duty time during the first seven months of 2026. These volunteer hours only account for duty crew time and do not include the hours spent on training and other Squad activities.

The Rescue Squad made 364 vehicle responses in July 2026 (up 3.0% compared to July 2025). 2509 vehicle responses have been made during the first seven months of 2026. The Rescue Squad made contact with 280 patients and Squad ambulances transported 235 patients to the hospital in July (up 4.8%). So far this year, the Rescue Squad has transported 1458 patients.

During July, the Rescue Squad provided EMS stand-by services to several large community events including the July 4th Fireworks in Flemington Borough. The Rescue Squad assisted with the Raritan Township Police Department Junior Police Academy and visited several summer camps. The Squad's Rescue Services Unit conducted one in-house rescue drill and participated in the Hunterdon County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force monthly training exercise as well. A number of calls were answered as a result of severe storms, including a mutual aid request for flood rescue assets in Monmouth County. Several serious motor vehicle crashes were handled by the Squad. A monthly EMS drill and a "Thirds" / Junior Member drill was conducted as well. The Rescue Squad participated in the Lebanon Borough July 4th Parade.

We are always looking for people who want to help serve their community as volunteer emergency medical technicians. If you think you might be interested in joining the Squad, check out www.frfars.org/join for additional information. See less

JOIN | 49 Rescue The Flemington-Raritan First Aid & Rescue Squad is equipped with five state-of-the-art 911 BLS ambulances and several specialized rescue and support units

The Rescue Squad's High Water 495 and five swiftwater technicians are enroute to Monmouth County for multiple water rescues due to flash flooding.

High Water 495 and Special Service 16 from Kingwood Township Fire Company are answering the call through Hunterdon County Emergency Management for a request for a high wheel vehicle flood rescue strike team.

(Flooding photo is from today via Jersey Shore Hurricane News FB page)

Day Three of possible evening strong thunderstorms, and now the possibility of flash flooding over the next 24-36 hours. Stay tuned to local weather sources for updates.

TURN AROUND - DON'T DROWN!

Last evening, the Rescue Squad responded with the Delaware Township Fire Company and mutual aid agencies to Dogwood Drive in Delaware Township for a generator fire that had extended to a structure. The Squad responded with two BLS Ambulances and Heavy Rescue 495.

When Delaware Township PD arrived on scene, they advised of a working structure fire. The blaze was brought under control quickly, as several fire apparatus were already on the road for previous assignments. Rescue personnel assisted with suppression operations as directed by Command. Squad EMTs provided EMS stand-by and assisted with Rehab. The Rescue crew refilled SCBA cylinders with HR495's cascade system once the fire was under control.

Rescue Squad units were available in about two hours.