Leonia Fire Department To Resume Service After Shut Down

Leonia’s volunteer firefighters are set to resume handling the borough’s emergency calls Thursday morning after officials temporarily shut down the department in response to an alleged sexual assault at the firehouse, an official said Wednesday.

The borough department would be officially back in service at 8 a.m., according to Leonia Councilman Greg Makroulakis, a member of the fire committee responsible for overseeing the department.

Social activities will still be barred at the fire station and firefighters would only be allowed inside for calls and maintenance, Makroulakis said. Officials plan to meet to continue discussing the shut down. 

"The fire buildings and equipment remain off limits to anyone not a member of the Leonia Fire Department," said a statement issued on behalf of the fire committee.

The temporary suspension of the fire department prompted a public outcry in Leonia, with residents creating a Facebook page to protest the decision and placing ribbons outside their homes in support of the department. Officials did not say what let them to reopen the firehouse Wednesday. 

The Teaneck, Englewood and Fort Lee fire departments were tasked with handling Leonia’s fire calls after the department was shuttered Monday. Borough Administrator Jack Terhune has said the entire department was temporarily closed in response to charges that an 18-year-old developmentally disabled man sexually abused a 3-year-old boy at the firehouse.

The teen, Darius Levine, was being held in a secure section of Bergen Regional Medical Center on one count of second-degree sexual assault by touching, according to sheriff’s office records. Levine, a student at Community High School in Teaneck, was reportedly interested in becoming a firefighter, but had not passed the required exams.

"The Mayor and Council, on behalf of all the residents of Leonia, wish to thank the Township of Teaneck, Borough of Fort Lee and the City of Englewood, and their respective fire departments, for their assistance during these most difficult several days," the borough's statement added.