Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy said he's not trying to pour gasoline on the fire, but he can foresee the day when a regional fire department will service communities in Monmouth County.

It's a volatile subject, he admits, one that touches on such issues as home rule and local pride, and sparks the suspicions of some volunteer fire companies that it's little more than a subterfuge to eliminate them.

Add to those suspicions that it's a ploy to hire more firefighters or even give Keddy a shot at commanding the regional force, and it becomes a tougher sell, he said.

In a sense, regionalization of a sort exists already in mutual aid agreements between departments, Keddy said. But those agreements are a patchwork of response commitments cobbled together among the 132 separate fire services that span the county, he said.

Keddy's view of the future is more expansive.

"If you look at it objectively, we would be able to provide a better service," he said. "I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody, but if you look at accepted practice, we don't put the amount of people we should on our fire calls."

Asbury Park has gone on record supporting the concept. The city has issued a support statement that reads in part:

"The City of Asbury Park and its Fire Department support, in principle, the concept of regionalization and consolidation as one manner of delivering firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services."

But as with most such statements, it's long on principle and short on specifics.

Which is part of the problem with regionalization discussions, public safety officials said.

"I think most people are supportive of regionalization," said William Richards, Long Branch public safety director. "It's just picking what model you're going to use."

It's also an issue that has been discussed by police, fire and emergency services for more than 30 years, said Eatontown Borough Administrator George S. Jackson, who oversees public safety in his community.

"It has pluses and minuses," Jackson said. "Bigger is not always better. It's also a hard sell for people who like the feel and identity of their hometowns. A lot of times the driving force is economic."

Asbury Park City Manager Terry Reidy said it's an idea whose time has come.

"I'm an optimist in that regard," he said. "It's obvious that from the standpoint of efficiency and economics we cannot continue the current duplication of services and equipment we now see."

Keddy's model of combined services might seem surreal to many in the Shore area, he said, but it's gaining acceptance elsewhere in New Jersey.

Fire departments in the Hudson County communities of West New York, Guttenberg, Weehawken, North Bergen and Union City have all combined to form a North Hudson Fire Department, Keddy said. Now with fewer personnel, they provide a better response in terms of both firefighters and equipment, he said.

"It operates like a regional authority, and they put more firefighters on the scene than they did when they were separate," Keddy said. "A lot of people are opposed to (regionalization) because it's a fear of the unknown."

So, what type of regional department does Keddy foresee?

"Why not shoot for the sky and say one for all of Monmouth County?" he said.

Realistic?

Probably not, Keddy concedes, but he could see a regional department that encompasses an area like Asbury Park, Neptune, Interlaken, Bradley Beach, Avon and Long Branch as a first step.

He said he's pitched the idea to many of his counterparts with varying levels of enthusiasm.

And, as if to undercut his own sales pitch, Keddy said a regional department probably would not result in a substantial savings to municipalities.

"This is not a cost-savings issue," he said. "It's a question of putting a better service out there in terms of response time, personnel and equipment."

John Rizzitello is the administrator for Belmar's 75-member volunteer force and a career firefighter at Fort Monmouth. He sees regionalization as something that is needed but also is hard to implement.

"The number of volunteers is gradually decreasing," he said. "That has both an economic and public safety impact for communities. The hardest thing is to overcome many of the older traditions in departments that are now impeding effective public safety. We should never forget where we came from, but we have to concentrate on where we need to be going."

Right now, no one has the type of fire response that a national survey of fire chiefs has recommended, Keddy said.

That survey by the National Fire Protection Association, long regarded as the standard setter for fire codes and response criteria, said 17 to 23 firefighters should be at the scene of a working dwelling fire in the first eight to 10 minutes.

It's slightly different than the guidelines of the so-called "bible" for career firefighters, NFPA 1710, which sets that standard at 15 to 17 firefighters on the ground for a first alarm. No one in the Shore area comes close to that number of responders on most nights, Keddy said.

Asbury Park has eight firefighters on for each shift, but they also must respond to ambulance calls. A good fire-call response in Asbury Park would be eight firefighters on the initial response — providing there are no ambulance calls to contend with. Then the number could drop to six or even four responders, Keddy said.

Asbury Park has long relied on firefighters from the Unexcelled Fire Company in neighboring Neptune, Keddy said.

"Their track record speaks for itself," he said of the volunteer company. "They continually provide six to eight able-bodied firefighters in an acceptable time frame."

That turnout is important to the regionalization concept, Keddy said, because the department he envisions would be a hybrid with both career and volunteer firefighters.

"Regionalization should never be looked at as an anti-volunteer position," he said. "A physically fit, well trained and qualified firefighter is the greatest asset any department can have, whether paid or volunteer."