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Resident describes 20-foot flames at gas-station fire; Stockton council to review dispatch, mutual aid
Summary
At the Jan. 26 Stockton Borough Council meeting, a resident described a Jan. 14 Shell gas-station fire with "20-foot flames" and called for a review of the town’s emergency response after a Verizon outage complicated 911 calls. Mayor Aaron Lipsen said total response time was "approximately 15 minutes"; council agreed to investigate options including mutual-aid arrangements.
At the Stockton Borough Council meeting on Jan. 26, Canal Music Studios owner Adrienne Walsh told elected officials the Jan. 14 fire at the Shell gas station grew quickly and threatened nearby buildings, and she urged the borough to review emergency dispatch and first-responder arrangements.
Walsh told the council the flames reached roughly 20 feet, she called 911 "a couple of times," and a neighbor helped control the blaze before fire apparatus arrived. "I don’t want to blame and point fingers at people, but I want to get more information about how the borough can make that time shrink," she said, according to comments presented at the meeting.
Mayor Aaron Lipsen said the incident coincided with a Verizon outage that made emergency calls difficult and that dispatch categorized the call at a lower level. "Total response time from initiation of first call to arrival was approximately 15 minutes," Lipsen said, adding that Delaware Township Fire Department units left their station within six minutes of dispatch and drive time was about five minutes.
The mayor told the meeting Stockton pays the Delaware Township Fire Company $17,500 annually for fire protection and that higher-level calls bring mutual aid from neighboring departments such as Lambertville. Walsh said she had spoken with the Lambertville fire chief, who suggested several response options and recommended she contact the mayor about whether Lambertville could serve as a first responder; she asked the council to examine costs and feasibility.
Council President Mann thanked Walsh for her actions at the scene and acknowledged concerns about the delay, saying the borough can "work together to make it better." Councilperson Fisher said the council would investigate options, including Lambertville mutual aid, and Councilperson Brown suggested providing a chart to gas-station and restaurant operators describing the levels of dispatch and appropriate on-site responses.
Mayor Lipsen said the incident had been discussed at a public-safety committee meeting and with the Office of Emergency Management and that the borough would consult the Delaware Township Fire Company and OEM coordinators. He directed that the topic be considered further at the public-safety committee and in the borough’s emergency-operation planning.
No formal action or change to the existing fire-protection contract was taken at the meeting. The council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2026.
