TWO-ALARM STRUCTURE FIRE

Date & Time: Saturday, June 14, 2008 – 10:49 a.m.

Location: 50 Broad Avenue, Ewing Township, N.J.

Details: Crews from all three Ewing Township fire companies – Pennington Road (Station 32), Prospect Heights (Station 31) and West Trenton (Station 33) – were dispatched at 10:45 a.m. for a reported structure fire. Pennington Road Chief Matt Kalnas arrived on location at 10:48 a.m. to find a split-level home fully-engulfed in flames. He immediately requested the balance of Box 32-10’s first alarm, then seconds later called for the second alarm. At 10:49 a.m. Mercer County Central retoned all Ewing fire companies for a working fire and also dispatched Lawrence Road’s Rescue 22 as the rapid intervention team. At 10:51 a.m. Slackwood’s Engine 21, Lawrenceville’s Telesquirt 23, Pennington Borough’s Engine 51 and Union-Titusville’s Engine 53 were all dispatched on the second alarm. With all the residents reported to be out and safe, and with parts of the fire building already starting to collapse, Kalnas called for a defensive exterior operation using multiple hoselines and the master streams from Ladder Tower 31 and Ladder Tower 33. Rescue 22 responded at 10:54 a.m. and arrived on the scene at 11 a.m. Rescue 22’s crew was quickly put to work and stretched a 1.75-inch hoseline from Rescue 22 to protect the Side B exposure building, the side of which was starting to smolder from the intense radiant heat given off by the blaze. Ultimately, the exposure building was saved and only suffered some melted siding and other minor damage. After the exposure building was out of danger, Rescue 22’s crew was reassigned RIT duties. Rescue 22’s driver (James Yates) and Lawrence Road Deputy Chief John Fleming also helped stretch a supply line from Engine 31-1 to Ladder Tower 33. The fire building soon collapsed, leaving only small parts of wall and the chimney left standing. The blaze was darkened down and declared under control at 11:29 a.m., however firefighters continued to flow water on the ruins for some time afterward. Apparatus that operated on the scene included: Engine 32, Ladder Tower 31, Engine 31-1, Ladder Tower 33, Engine 33, Rescue 22, Engine 21, Telesquirt 23, Ladder Tower 51, Engine 53, Rehab 174 (Trenton EMS), and Signal 22 (Canteen). Rescue 22 was released from the fireground at 12:28 p.m. and was back in quarters by 12:43 p.m.

Responding LRFC Personnel

Rescue 22

Officer: Lt. Joseph Dlabik Jr.	Driver: Safety Officer James Yates
Crew: Ff. Shaun Dlabik	Crew: Ff. Matthew Farletta
Crew: Ff. Ryan Dlabik	Crew: Ff. Steven Hodgdon

Car 22-1

Deputy Chief John Fleming

Video copyright (c) 2008 by Brian McCarthy On Scene

Photos copyright (c) 2008 by Shaun Dlabik Photos copyright (c) 2008 by Michael Ratcliffe Additional photos and video can be found at NewJerseyFirefighters