Thirteen NJ Departments Tackle Fire that Destroys House

Firefighters extinguished a fire that fully consumed a house in Clinton Township on Tuesday afternoon.

First responders were dispatched to a fire at a residence on Old Mountain Road at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon, according to Chris Sloss, chief of the Annandale Hose Company.

No one was home at the time, but four firefighters were evaluated at the scene for heat exhaustion. One of them was transported to the hospital for further evaluation, but has since been released and is recovering, Sloss confirmed.

He added that the cause of the fire has not been determined, but appears to not be suspicious.

“When we arrived it was fully involved and basically burnt the whole house down,” Sloss said.

There are no hydrants in the area, so a tanker task force was dispatched to supply water to fight the fire. Tankers were refilled at the fill site set up at a hydrant on Main Street in Lebanon Borough by the Quakertown Fire Company, about a mile-and-a-half from the scene.

The house was located uphill, over 700 feet from the road. Firefighters laid a five-inch water supply line up the driveway from the street to supply 61,000 gallons of water to the engines up by the house.

“There was no issue at all with water supply,” Sloss said. “We immediately got water on the fire.”

Fire companies that responded to the fire included the Annandale Hose Company, Lebanon Borough Fire Company, Whitehouse Fire Company, High Bridge Fire Department, Quakertown Fire Company, Clinton Fire Department, Readington Volunteer Fire Company, Califon Fire Company, the North Branch Volunteer Fire Company, the Oldwick Fire Company, the Fairmount Fire Company, the Three Bridges Fire Company and the East Whitehouse Fire Department.

Other units at the scene include Clinton Township Police, South Branch Emergency Services, White House Rescue Squad, Paramedics from the Hunterdon Medical Center, Hunterdon County Fire & EMS Coordinators, the New Jersey Fire Marshal’s Office, and Hunterdon County Tanker Task Force East.

All units departed the scene at approximately 6:30 p.m.

The Clinton Township Police and Clinton Township Fire Marshal are investigating the incident.

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