Third Floor Blaze
Battled in Elizabeth
On July 2, 2008, Engine One arrived on
Elizabeth Avenue and found a smoke condition on the third floor
of a three story mixed occupied building. The first floor was
the Gentlemen’s Club with apartments on the two and three
floors. The building was also attached on both sides to three
story buildings.
As fire vented out the rear of the building command ask for a
second alarm, as roof was being vented. Heavy fire was found in
the cockloft and appeared to have extended to the delta
exposure. With that report, Incident Command asked for the third
alarm which brought in mutual aid from the Union County Fire
Department who also covers as a task force for Elizabeth. Ladder
Tower Three opened its master stream from their bucket and
knocked down the heavy fire quickly. The fire was contained in
approximately one hour and officially put under control at the
120-minute mark.
-Fire News photos by Robert Scollan
Searches Prove
Negative at
Lawrenceville
Fire
Recently, on a hot and humid Saturday,
two firefighters were injured while battling a two-alarm blaze
in a 12-unit apartment building in Lawrence Township, Mercer
County.
The fire at the Lawrenceville Gardens complex on Franklin Corner
Road was reported at 12:35 p.m. Heavy fire was venting from
several windows of an end unit on the second floor of the
two-story building when firefighters arrived.
Told that a child was possibly trapped in the fire apartment,
first-due crews mounted an aggressive attack and a primary
search while the second alarm was transmitted. Ultimately, all
searches proved negative and the “trapped” child was later found
safe elsewhere. Two firefighters were transported to a local
hospital – one to be treated for minor burns, the other for back
injuries suffered during a partial ceiling collapse.
The fire was under control by 1:20 p.m. It was contained to the
apartment of origin, although three neighboring units sustained
smoke and water damage. An electrical cord pinched behind a
bedroom dresser was believed to have been the cause of the fire.
The blaze was fought by crews from nine fire companies from
Lawrence, Hamilton, West Windsor, Pennington, Princeton and
Ewing.
-Fire News photos by Michael Ratcliffe
Four Alarm Blaze
Rocks Little Ferry
On July 24, 2008, more than 150 firefighters
fought a four alarm fire for more than five hours in Little
Ferry. A mixture of paper, solvents and other printing chemical
exacerbated the flames and caused heating units to fall through
the roof, rupturing a gas line. The ruptured gas line caused
several small explosions.
No one was injured during the operation. Police and fire
officials were still trying to determine how the 1:00 a.m. blaze
began. Lightning was initially considered, however an electrical
problem appears to have been responsible for the incident.
-Fire News
photos by Brett M. Dzadik
Fords
Firefighters Battle Tanker Fire
On the morning of July 11, 2008, a gasoline
tanker rolled over on the Exit 11 ramp of the New Jersey
Turnpike. The driver escaped the burning vehicle and was
transported to Robert Wood Johnson New Brunswick. Fords Fire
Company called in numerous mutual aid companies including the
Carteret foam truck and the Port Authority Foam truck from
Newark Airport to help battle the tanker fire.
-Fire News
photos by Wayne Tasaki
