Southard Fire Department #1 is located at 4611 Route 9 North, in Howell Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, just across the street from the Howell K-Mart store. Howell Township is situated in the southernmost portion of Monmouth County on the border of Ocean County. Howell Township is surrounded by Freehold Township to the north, Wall Township to the east, Jackson Township to the west, and Lakewood Township to the south. We proudly protect 20,000 people living in an area of about 18 square miles. We operate out of two stations that protect a primarily residential area, from Aldrich Road South to the border of Lakewood Township and from Jackson Township to County Route 547.

Calls consist of fire alarm soundings, motor vehicle accidents, brush fires, structure fires, EMS (Emergency Medical Service) calls and mutual aid calls. Along with fire protection, Southard also provide several specialty teams such as Underwater Search and Recovery Team, Hazardous Materials (Haz-Mat) Response Team, Confined Space Team and Rapid Intervention Team ( RIT). Many of our members are first responder-first aid certified, as well as EMTs (Emergency Medical Technician). Southard also supports the Howell Township First Aid when requested, surprising residents when a fire engine shows up before the ambulance. Southard established mutual-aid agreements for large-scale incidents with other local departments, which include Squankum Fire Company Station 19-1, Adelphia Fire Company Station 19-2, Ramtown Fire Company Station 19-4, Freewood Acres Fire Company Station 19-5, Jackson Station 55,54, and the Lakewood Fire Department.

The department consists of 52 volunteer firefighters, 4 paid firefighters and the Ladies Auxiliary. Our paid firefighters are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding holidays. The paid firefighters are hired by the Board of Fire Commissioners of District #3 to supplement the volunteer force during daytime hours. There are 15 pieces of firefighting apparatus to support the firefighters who are available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, including holidays; all one has to do is dial 9-1-1.

We are dispatched from either Howell Township Police or Monmouth County Fire Radio and operate on the following fire ground channels.

Monmouth Fire 1 - 154.430 MHz - Dispatch
Howell Fire 2 - 154.385 MHz - Response
Howell Fire 3 - 154.130 MHz - Fire Ground
Howell Fire 4 - 154.250 MHz - Fire Ground
Howell Fire 5 - 154.220 MHz - Fire Ground
Howell Local EMS - 153.980 MHz - EMS Channel
Monmouth Fire 3 - 154.280 MHz - Fire Ground Back Up
Monmouth Fire 5 - 153.830 MHz - Fire Ground Back Up