Mount Laurel is a 22.5 square mile suburban community with an average night time population approaching 50,000 and a day time commercial-business population taking that census to well over 100,000. The community is extremely diversified, with the Fire Department having the responsibilities of providing protection for structures that range from high rise to farm properties, along with several miles of some of the busiest highways in the country i.e. New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) and Interstate 295.


The Mount Laurel Fire Department is a combination department consisting of approximately 50 active volunteer personnel and 44 career personnel. The career personnel are on duty at all three firestations, and work six separate shifts to provide consistent coverage. Station 361and Station 362 are both a 24 hour firehouse and Station 363 has a 7am - 4pm shift. Volunteer personnel are "on call" at the stations when career personnel are off duty, serving as the primary source of manpower for fire protection during this period and on weekends.


The Mount Laurel Fire Department, being a combination Department, is obviously comprised of Career and Volunteer Firefighters. During the Career hours, the standard complement of employees are the Chief, Fire Marshal, Business Administrator, 1 Apparatus Officer, 1 Captain, and 3 Lieutenants. Each station is manned by 3 Firefighters and 1 company officer. The Bureau of Fire Prevention has 2-3 Inspectors depending on the workload. During the Volunteer hours, 2 Deputy Chiefs, 2 Battalion Chiefs share the Duty Chiefs responsibilities, 3 Station Captains, 6 Lieutenants, and approximately 50 Firefighters handle emergency calls. Career employees are permitted to return to duty for Dwellings, Buildings, or any other major incident.