FOUR-ALARM STRUCTURE FIRE

Date & Time: Thursday, January 3, 2008 – 6:16 a.m.

Location: 10 Chase Hollow Road, Hopewell Township, N.J.

Details: At 5:51 a.m. Mercer County Central transmitted Box 52-40 and dispatched units from Hopewell Borough (Station 52), Pennington Borough (Station 51), Union-Titusville (Station 53) and Lawrenceville (Station 23) fire companies for a reported structure fire at 10 Chase Hollow Road in Hopewell Township. Police arrived on scene within minutes and confirmed a working fire. That resulted in the dispatch of Rescue 32 from Pennington Road Fire Co. as the rapid intervention team. By 6 a.m. Chief 52 (Bill Springer) arrived on scene and reported heavy fire showing from Side A of a large mansion. The two-story structure occupied more than 4,500 square feet and was worth more than a million dollars. Residents of the home had already escaped and were not injured. Because there are no hydrants in that area of Hopewell Township, Chief 52 immediately requested the tanker complement of the second alarm. That resulted in the dispatch of tankers from Griggstown (Station 35) and Montgomery #1 (Station 45) fire companies of Somerset County and Upper Makefield Fire Co. (Station 71) of Bucks County, Pa. A short time later the balance of the second alarm was requested, resulting in the dispatch at about 6:16 a.m. of Lawrence Road’s Rescue 22, Ladder Tower 33 from West Trenton Fire Co., and an engine from Montgomery Fire Co. #2 (Somerset County Station 46). The fire rapidly spread throughout the house, as the need to truck in water and the morning’s icy weather – with the temperature staying below 20 degrees Fahrenheit – hampered firefighting efforts. With interior conditions rapidly deteriorating and becoming very unsafe, Chief 52 at 6:23 a.m. ordered all personnel to evacuate the building and switch to an exterior defensive operation using master streams. Minutes later, he requested a third alarm for tankers. That resulted in the dispatch of tankers from the Little Rocky Hill (Station 41) and Neshanic (Station 48) fire companies out of Somerset County and Sergeantsville Fire Co. (Station 47) from Hunterdon County. At 6:56 a.m., the fourth alarm tanker assignment was requested and, as a result, tankers were dispatched from East Windsor Fire Co. #1 (Station 42), Quakertown Fire Co. (Hunterdon County Station 91), and Hillsborough Fire Co. #3 (Somerset County Station 38). A fill-site for the tankers was set up at the pond adjacent to the Pennytown Shopping Center on Route 31. Despite the several thousands of gallons of water per minute that were poured on the fire, the mansion was completely destroyed. Wind-blown embers threatened to ignite the roof of a neighboring home, but those embers were quickly extinguished. Ultimately, Chief 52 declared the fire under control at 8:30 a.m.. However, firefighters remained on scene throughout the morning to douse hotspots amid the ruins. The Signal 22 canteen unit from Trenton responded to the scene to provide firefighters with refreshments. Rescue 22’s crew, who arrived on scene at 6:37 a.m., helped man hoselines along the exterior of the house before they were recalled at 9:24 a.m. Rescue 22 was finally back in quarters by 9:56 a.m. Investigators reportedly determined an electrical problem was the likely cause of the blaze. Apparatus that operated at the scene included the following: Mercer County – Engine 52, Engine 52-1, Tanker 52, Rescue 52, Engine 51, Tanker 51, Ladder Tower 51, Telesquirt 53, Tanker 53, Telesquirt 23, Rescue 32, Rescue 22, Ladder Tower 33, Tanker 42 and Signal 22; Bucks County – Tanker 71; Somerset County – Tanker 35-1, Tanker 38-132, Tanker 41, Tanker 45-135, Engine 46, and Tanker 48; Hunterdon County – Tender 47 and Tanker 91.

Responding LRFC Personnel

Rescue 22

Officer: Capt. Michael Byrd	Driver: Ff. Shaun Dlabik
Crew: Capt. Ed Budzinski	Crew: Capt. Edward Kitchen
Crew: Lt. Joseph Dlabik Jr.	Crew: Ff. Steven Adzima

All photos copyright (c) 2008 by Shaun Dlabik