Emergency personnel respond to incidents daily where they come to the aid of complete strangers, but at 10:26 p.m. on New Year’s Day, South Plainfield firefighters responded to a fast moving fire that tore through a home where one of their own members reside.
Fire was showing from first floor windows on the Bravo and Delta sides and it was auto exposing to the second floor. In addition, a porch on the Charlie side of the home was engulfed in flames and threatening nearby structures.
A water supply was established directly across the street and handlines were stretched to protect exposures and darken the heavy volume of fire before entry could be made inside the home.
Once the bulk of the fire was knocked from the exterior, crews made entry with handlines to extinguish the remaining fire inside. Hidden pockets of fire remained in the walls and other void spaces requiring extensive overhaul on both the exterior and interior to ensure all hot spots were extinguished.
A total of three 1 3/4-inch handlines, one 2 1/2-inch handline and one tower ladder were placed in operation to battle the blaze.
The fire was declared under control at 11:47 p.m., but firefighters remained on scene until the early-morning hours hitting hot spots and wrapping up equipment.
Five people were forced to flee the home at the time of the fire. One occupant sustained minor burns and was treated by EMS personnel. There were no firefighter injuries reported at the scene.
Mutual aid fire departments from Piscataway Township and Plainfield assisted at the scene, while additional neighboring fire departments covered the town during the incident.
The cause and origin of the fire is being investigated by the South Plainfield Fire Prevention Bureau.
