As a way to promote reading, The Mount Laurel Fire Department and the Mount Laurel Library are excited to announce the TWELFTH year of the Get Fired Up for Literacy program! This is a reading contest for all Mount Laurel public school students in grades 1-4. It will begin Wednesday, December 23 and the goal is simple: read, read, read!

There will be four prize winners chosen per school and this will include one student from each grade who reads the most minutes during winter break. Additionally, one grand prize winner will be randomly selected at each school to receive a ride to school in a fire truck! Finally, each student who participates and reads a minimum of 60 minutes will receive a certificate. Note: Previous grand prize winners are not eligible for fire truck rides.

The contest will be entirely virtual this year. To register and keep track of how many minutes you read, click the link below.

The winners will be posted in mid January and the fire truck rides will be arranged shortly thereafter.

As New Jersey prepares for “The Road Back”, make sure your business is ready to meet the challenge!

If your business/building has been completely or partially unoccupied during the current pandemic, you must take action to address possible water quality degradation in the building’s plumbing system.  This correspondence is intended to bring awareness to this issue.  We also provide basic guidance and a helpful link so you can reoccupy your building in a “water healthy” way and avoid water quality issues.

What happened to the water while the building was unoccupied?  Examples include:

• When water was not used, the chlorine in the water had a chance to dissipate.  This invites microorganisms to grow inside pipes, fixtures and tanks.  Some may cause disease if they are consumed or inhaled as droplets (particularly while showering).
• The protective scale inside pipes may have destabilized. Without the protective scale, toxic metals like lead (if you have lead pipes) can dissolve or shear off as particles and end up in water used for drinking or food preparation.
• For larger buildings/systems, mechanical equipment such as cooling towers, boilers and pumps may not have received routine maintenance.  Backflow preventers may have missed annual test cycles.

What actions do I need to take?

Every business is different and the answer to this question varies depending on the size, design and use of your specific plumbing system.  The proper actions will range from the simple flushing of your plumbing system for a few minutes to following the actions put in place as part of your Water Management Plan (if applicable).  Size, design and use are important in determining your actions.

The link below provides some basic information and guidance which will allow you to take appropriate actions.  This will ensure that a return to normal includes water quality in your building that is tailored to your specific needs.  If during this process you have any questions, our water professionals will do their best to assist you.   You are invited to contact us at 856.234.0062.

Here is a good resource to get you started:

ESPRI (Environmental Science Policy & Research Institute)
https://esprinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/FINAL_Coronavirus-Building-Flushing-Guidance-20200403-rev-1.pdf

We will get through this together!

The Mount Laurel Firefighters’ Foundation, a 501c(3) non-profit organization, in cooperation with the Mount Laurel Fire Department, is taking donations to maintain a memorial to remember those lost on September 11, 2001. The focal point of the memorial is a steel I-beam from the World Trade Center, generously donated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. We need your support to maintain our memorial and ensure we Never Forget. You can use the PayPal button below for your donation.

Thank you in advance for your support.