Victim Rescued
and Revived
at Trenton Blaze
Firefighters and emergency medical personnel
teamed up to save the life of a man who went into cardiac arrest
while trapped inside his burning home in Trenton on April 3,
2008. The dramatic rescue took place on Monmouth Place.
It was about 6:20 p.m. when city firefighters were dispatched
for a house fire with people trapped. They arrived to find thick
smoke pumping from the home in the middle of a row of five
two-story homes. Neighbors originally tried to help a female
resident to safety from the front porch roof.
The woman had climbed out through a second-floor window. As
firefighters helped her down from the porch roof, she screamed
that her brother was still inside.
Firefighters conducted a search and located the 67-year-old man
collapsed in the second-floor bathroom, adjacent to the
well-involved bedroom where the fire had started.
The man was in cardiac arrest as he was carried from the
building and passed off to EMS personnel. CPR was immediately
started and managed to restart his heart and breathing.
The man was rushed to Capital Health System at Fuld Hospital,
and later transferred to the burn unit at Temple University
Hospital in Philadelphia for specialized care.
The fire, which was under control in under a half-hour, was
contained to the one house.
-Fire News photos by Michael Ratcliffe
Torch Starts
Blaze in Lawrence Township
A roofing contractor's torch was blamed for
sparking a raging fire that heavily damaged the house on
Allegheny Avenue in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, on May 6,
2008. Authorities said the contractor was using the torch to
heat up material to seal a vent near the peak of the two-story
home's roof when he accidentally ignited insulation in the
attic. The man reportedly tried to fight the fire on his own
using a portable extinguisher and a garden hose for as much as
10 minutes before 911 was notified shortly before 4:00 p.m.
Heavy smoke was billowing from the roof when first-due
firefighters arrived. Firefighters attempted an interior attack
but their efforts were hampered by limited access to the attic
and “Collyer's Mansion” like conditions on the second floor. As
interior conditions deteriorated, the incident commander,
Slackwood Fire Company Chief Robert Santello, ordered all
personnel to evacuate the building. The blaze was brought under
control within an hour.
Operating on scene were crews from Slackwood Station 21,
Lawrence Road Station 22, Lawrenceville Station 23, Enterprise
Station 14-2, Pennington Road Station 32, and West Trenton
Station 33.
-Fire News photos by Michael Ratcliffe
Second Alarm
Blaze Knocked Down in West Caldwell
On May 25 2008, West Caldwell firefighters
arrived to a call on Oraton Street only to find a well involved
fire in the attached garage attached of a single story private
dwelling.
Downed power lines hampered the initial attack and fire extended
to the attic of the dwelling. Mutual aid was requested to assist
with water supply and manpower. A collapse of the garage attic
later occurred which dropped a large amount of debris into the
bay. Public Service Electric arrived and secured power which
allowed firefighters to aggressively attack the fire to bring it
under control.
-Fire News
photo by Michael Coppola
Pitman Battles
Smokey Blaze
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. on April 3, 2008
all three fire stations from Pitman were dispatched to the 100
block of Lexington Avenue for a reported dwelling fire.
Gloucester County fire radio gave an update to all companies
that they were receiving calls for smoke coming from a basement
of the dwelling. The second update stated that Pitman Police
were on location and reporting heavy smoke conditions with a
confirmed working fire.
As the first in units arrived, smoke conditions were so thick
they could just about see the dwelling. All companies went “in
service” with a one and three-quarter-inch hand line, making an
aggressive interior attack to locate the fire. The second alarm
was requested, bringing in firefighters from Glassboro and
Washington Township. Firefighters were hampered by extremely
heavy smoke conditions as they were making their interior
attack.
Pitman's Ladder Company went to the roof to ventilate just as
fire began to show out of the second floor roof area. An
additional alarm was sounded, bringing in over five more
companies from Gloucester County.
It took fire fighters almost three quarters of an hour of
aggressive firefighting before they were able to contain the
blaze. Gloucester County EMS Units were on location and were
seen treating one firefighter for smoke inhalation. Deptford
Township Canteen 9 was requested for “rehab” and refreshments.
The fire is under investigation by the Gloucester County Fire
Marshal's Office.
-Fire News
photos by Bob Bartosz
