By Matthew Hersh
Fifteen years after Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad (PFARS) volunteer Michael Kenwood lost his life in a rescue operation during Hurricane Irene, a vehicle built for that kind of emergency will now honor his legacy and commitment to Princeton.
The new high water/storm rescue truck was placed into service on August 9 during a ceremony at Kenwood’s memorial bench in Greenway Meadows Park, where members of his family, friends and current and former PFARS volunteers gathered to remember the 39-year-old volunteer who died August 28, 2011, while conducting a swiftwater rescue on Rosedale Road.
Kenwood was survived by a wife and young daughter. More than 100 police, fire, and EMS personnel attended his funeral, along with state and local officials.
“The legacy of Michael Kenwood is among the first things every new member of the squad learns, and is expected to embody,” said Ari Meisel, executive director of Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad. “This truck will carry his name into every rescue it makes.”
Fifteen years later, the vehicle built for the kind of call that took his life bears his name every time it responds.
Whether Princeton and New Jersey have the resources to maintain the emergency services that respond to those calls extends beyond one piece of equipment, however.
PFARS continues its push for more stable public funding for emergency medical services (EMS), part of an ongoing discussion over how New Jersey pays for an emergency response system that residents depend on but that has historically relied heavily on patient billing, donations and volunteer labor.
The squad is among the agencies advocating for legislation that would formally recognize basic life-support emergency medical services as an essential public service. The effort comes as EMS agencies around the state confront rising operating costs, recruitment, and retention challenges and questions about whether a system built around a patchwork of funding sources can remain sustainable.
PFARS handles thousands of calls each year while receiving only a relatively small share of its operating budget from municipal support. Much of the remainder must come from patient billing, community donations, and other revenue.
The legislation PFARS and Princeton Mayor Mark Freda are supporting is S1421 in the Senate, with companion bill A1008 in the Assembly. The bills would establish basic life-support EMS as an essential municipal service in New Jersey.
Both bills cleared their first committees in May, unanimously: S1421 passed the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee on May 18, while its Assembly counterpart, A1008, passed the Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee on May 28. The legislature is currently on hiatus with the bills awaiting subsequent committee hearings.
Meisel said that is where PFARS has been concentrating its advocacy. State Sen. Andrew Zwicker’s office has been the squad’s main legislative point of contact, Meisel said, and PFARS sent the senator’s team a status update in late July expressing concern that the bills could stall without continued attention. This followed a June meeting that first responders and Princeton elected officials held with Zwicker, along with Assemblyman Roy Freiman and Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis.
More recently, on August 11, Meisel and PFARS member Matt Stiff met at the squad’s headquarters with representatives of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office to discuss the legislation and what would be needed to move it forward. PFARS used the recent funding crisis facing New Jersey’s disaster-response EMS team as an example of the broader stakes, Meisel said.
The “short version” of the legislative effort, Meisel said, is that its momentum “depends on someone in Trenton actively working it.”
PFARS is now asking the governor’s office and the legislature for a concrete next step, Meisel said, before the current legislative session ends at the start of 2027.
The campaign to have emergency medical response treated differently from an optional municipal service is not new, but is gathering steam beyond Princeton. A statewide EMS task force that provides emergency medical support at major incidents and mass gatherings has also been warning about the adequacy of its funding, underscoring the broader financial pressures facing the state’s emergency medical infrastructure.
In Princeton, where the Municipality has already recognized the need to invest in specialized emergency-response equipment, the high water rescue truck is one example of the need for sustained funding. The vehicle is operated jointly by PFARS and the Princeton Fire Department under Princeton Emergency Management, giving the Municipality a dedicated capability for the kind of flooding that once required Princeton to depend on outside assistance.
At Kenwood’s remembrance ceremony, PFARS members recalled a volunteer who went out into a hurricane because a neighbor was in need. “Every time this vehicle rolls out into rising water, it will carry that commitment with it. We remember Michael. We honor his sacrifice. And we keep answering the call, because that is what he did,” said a statement from PFARS.
“His courage and selfless commitment continue to inspire volunteers to serve our community,” reads the plaque at Kenwood’s bench.