IAFF Locals 2663 & 3198

Cherry Hill

Professional Firefighters

Representing the professional firefighters and fire officers who keep Cherry Hill safe

Our Story
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Firefighter assisting child putting out pretend fire

Protecting Cherry Hill

IAFF Locals 2663 & 3198 work tirelessly to ensure Cherry Hill’s residents, businesses, and visitors receive the highest service and that your firefighters work under the safest possible conditions.
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Cherry Hill Firefighters board

Executive Board

Cherry Hill Firefighters IAFF Local 2663 represents all firefighters and fire prevention specialists, and Cherry Hill Fire Officers IAFF Local 3198 represents the department’s lieutenants, captains, battalion chiefs, and the chief fire marshal.
Meet our board members
The safety of Cherry Hill's families, businesses, and visitors - and your firefighters themselves - relies on sound and continual investment in personnel, equipment, and training. Your Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters have worked tirelessly for more than half a century to ensure that the Cherry Hill community continues to benefit from these investments.
CHFD

With a population booming from just under 6,000 residents in 1940 to more than 31,000 twenty years later, Cherry Hill's first career firefighters were hired in the 1960s to keep up with growing call demand.

While investments in personnel, equipment, and training slow and staffing minimums fluctuate, your Cherry Hill’s professional firefighters continue to do more with less with increased risk to our health and safety.

Cherry Hill firefighter putting out house fire

By the 1970s, a group of these career firefighters realized that to improve their working conditions and compensation, they needed to organize into a labor union. As a result, Cherry Hill Firefighters IAFF Local 2663 was founded on October 16, 1978.

Our call volume, scope, and geographic response area continue to grow. Cherry Hill firefighters respond to an ever-growing scope of emergencies across Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey, and beyond, thousands of times each year.

Firefighters on rescue boat

By the 1980s, Cherry Hill's population was approaching 70,000 residents. As a result, the Township's paid firefighter ranks continued to grow to keep up with rising call volume and a continued decline in volunteers. Along with this came a need to have supervising fire officers. So, on December 1, 1988, Cherry Hill Professional Fire Officers Association IAFF Local 3198 was founded.

Our firefighters are leaders in rescue task force (active shooter), technical rescue and hazmat response and mitigation – all of which require our firefighters to participate in countless hours of training every year.

Cherry Hill historical photoCherry Hill members

The 1990s saw a consolidation of Cherry Hill's six independent fire districts into one new governing body. On January 1, 1994, Cherry Hill Fire District No. 13 was organized and became the home of the new Cherry Hill Fire Department. The 2000s saw a sixth 24-hour company - Engine 22 - added to the department, with 25 to 27 firefighters and fire officers on duty at any time.

While our firefighters continue to answer the call of service, we're heading toward a new chapter in the department's young history: Many members are gearing up for retirement.

Cherry Hill firefighters in house fire

By 2010, investments in the fire department began to slow. The minimum staffing on fire apparatus dropped from four firefighters to just three. Less than a decade later, with Cherry Hill's population nearing 75,000 and emergency call volume at an all-time high, a shift minimum of 19 firefighters and fire officers became the norm. While this number continues to fluctuate in the 2020s, your Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters work tirelessly to ensure that investments in our community's safety remain paramount.

Your Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters are committed to protecting life and property for Cherry Hill's residents and visitors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our members are there when you need us most.

CHFD

With a population booming from just under 6,000 residents in 1940 to more than 31,000 twenty years later, Cherry Hill's first career firefighters were hired in the 1960s to keep up with growing call demand.

While investments in personnel, equipment, and training slow and staffing minimums fluctuate, your Cherry Hill’s professional firefighters continue to do more with less with increased risk to our health and safety.

Cherry Hill firefighter putting out house fire

By the 1970s, a group of these career firefighters realized that to improve their working conditions and compensation, they needed to organize into a labor union. As a result, Cherry Hill Firefighters IAFF Local 2663 was founded on October 16, 1978.

Our call volume, scope, and geographic response area continue to grow. Cherry Hill firefighters respond to an ever-growing scope of emergencies across Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jerseys, and beyond, thousands of times each year.

Firefighters on rescue boat

By the 1980s, Cherry Hill's population was approaching 70,000 residents. As a result, the Township's paid firefighter ranks continued to grow to keep up with rising call volume and a continued decline in volunteers. Along with this came a need to have supervising fire officers. So, on December 1, 1988, Cherry Hill Professional Fire Officers Association IAFF Local 3198 was founded.

Our firefighters are leaders in rescue task force (active shooter), technical rescue and hazmat response and mitigation – all of which require our firefighters to participate in countless hours of training every year.

Cherry Hill historical photoCherry Hill members

The 1990s saw a consolidation of Cherry Hill's six independent fire districts into one new governing body. On January 1, 1994, Cherry Hill Fire District No. 13 was organized and became the home of the new Cherry Hill Fire Department. The 2000s saw a sixth 24-hour company - Engine 22 - added to the department, with 25 to 27 firefighters and fire officers on duty at any time.

While our firefighters continue to answer the call of service, we're heading toward a new chapter in the department's young history: Many members are gearing up for retirement.

Cherry Hill firefighters in house fire

By 2010, investments in the fire department began to slow. The minimum staffing on fire apparatus dropped from four firefighters to just three. Less than a decade later, with Cherry Hill's population nearing 75,000 and emergency call volume at an all-time high, a shift minimum of 19 firefighters and fire officers became the norm. While this number continues to fluctuate in the 2020s, your Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters work tirelessly to ensure that investments in our community's safety remain paramount.

Your Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters are committed to protecting life and property for Cherry Hill's residents and visitors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our members are there when you need us most.

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Our Initiatives

It's our mission to give back and support the residents and businesses of Cherry Hill. Each year, our firefighters donate not just monetarily but with hundreds of hours volunteering on initiatives benefiting our residents, neighborhoods, region, and beyond.

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Your Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters are committed to promoting and protecting the interests and safety of our members and community. The Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters Fire PAC is a political action fund made up of voluntary contributions by our members to advocate for firefighters and public safety interests.

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Firefighters go about their jobs with a supreme sense of confidence. This trait allows them to go above and beyond to keep their communities safe. But that feeling of invincibility sometimes allows firefighters to bottle up too much of their emotions without knowing how to deal with them.

We want all Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters and their families to know they are supported with multiple confidential resources during emotionally charged times.

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Firefighter occupational cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the fire service. Between 2002 and 2019, 66% of the names of firefighters added to the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial Wall of Honor in Colorado Springs, CO, were of members who died from occupational cancer.

Cherry Hill Professional Firefighters have been busy at the local and state level, ensuring that our members take cancer prevention seriously.

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Cherry Hill political
Cherry Hill political
Cherry Hill mental health
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Billy Walker, Jr. Foundation
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Murph Challenge
Annual Shriner's Childrens Philadelphia toy drive with Cherry Hill PBA Local 176
Annual Shriner's Childrens Philadelphia toy drive with Cherry Hill PBA Local 176
Heroes to Hero 5k Run/Walk
The Ben to The Shore Bike Tour
PFANJ 5-Alarm 5K Run/Walk benefiting The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas