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The Home News
http://www.mycentraljersey.com

June 28, 2008

Monroe fire company throws block party to woo volunteers

By SHARI GARRETSON
STAFF WRITER

It was just your typical block party — watermelon, dunk tank, jaws of death demonstration. OK, typical for a block party hosted by a volunteer fire company.

The Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company 1 decided to attract potential recruits by offering free food and some family fun to local residents on Saturday.

During the afternoon Harrison Avenue, where the fire company’s station and hall are located, was filled with fire vehicles on display, along with a grilling area, a DJ station, an inflated moonwalk and a dunk tank.

Children could squirt each other with the hose from a “brush truck,” a smaller fire truck that is used in urban wooded areas.

Or they could go into the Fire Safety House, a trailer set up like a home where the kids are shown mock fire hazards, and then instructed how to safely escape when the house fills with DJ “smoke.”

“We sat on the stairs, and the fire alarm went off,” said eight year-old Kyla Lynch, who took the Fire Safety House tour. They crawled up the stairs to stay under the smoke, she said, and then out a window. “We went down the ladder.”

Best friends Danielle Mizrahi and Holly Morgans, both 10, picked up some fire safety tips. “You don’t use extension cords with refrigerators,” said Mizrahi.

Morgans found out what to do if you’re in a bathroom with no window, and fire is blocking your escape by the door. “You turn on the water in the bathtub and let it run,” she said. Staying in the tub will keep you wet and cool.

Visitors also got a chance to look at the innards of a fire truck. And to see firefighters use various tools to take apart a Dodge Neon, to show how they free trapped motorists.

One of the most popular attractions, however, was Sparky the Fire Dog, a remote control Dalmatian co-owned by all three Monroe fire districts. Sparky can interact with people, quizzing them about fire safety or just chatting. He can also zap them with water squirted from the miniature fire truck he drives. That last feature was especially welcome on what turned out to be an intensely hot day.

Despite the sultry weather, fire company President Jeff McDonnell said the turnout was good. He estimated that between 100 and 150 people showed up for the event, which ran from 11 a.m. till 5 p.m.

Chief Lonnie Pipero said the fire company got about five applications from people who attended. “A lot of people who are new to the area are intimidated to just walk in the door and apply,” he said. They’ve used block parties to attract recruits in the past.

McDonnell and Pipero are part of the volunteer wing of the fire company, which also has professional firefighters from Monroe Township Fire District 1 staffing it during the week. Their last recruitment party netted them seven volunteers, five of whom are still with them, Pipero said.

Anyone interested can download an applications from the company’s Web site www.mtvfc1.com, call (732) 251-2122, or stop by the firehouse on a Tuesday night when the volunteers are there, said Pipero.

Cape May County Herald
http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/30773-route-47-crash-near-dennisville-sends-three-cape-regional

DENNISVILLE — Three victims were transported to Cape Regional Medical Center by Belleplain Emergency Corps on June 29, at about 1:45 p.m. after two cars collided on Route 47.

State Police Woodbine Station are investigating a two car motor vehicle accident on Route 47 in front of Meadow View Auto Repair, that sent one car off the roadway causing the car to strike a trailer carrying a boat. The boat then struck a Ford pick-up truck that was parked next to the trailer.

The Dennisville Fire Department also responded to the scene to assist.

No further information is available.

Asbury Park Press
http://www.app.com

WOODBRIDGE — A coconut was set on fire during a traditional naming ritual for a new baby, sparking a blaze inside the family’s apartment and sending the 5-day old infant to the hospital in respiratory distress.

The fire started at about 10:50 p.m. Wednesday in the apartment at 802 Forest View Drive in Avenel, said fire official Cory Spillar. Pinkal Gandhi, his wife Pinal Gandhi, and some family members had filled a coconut with cotton, poured vegetable oil inside and lit it as a candle. It quickly caught on fire and spread to the hardwood floor.

Spillar stressed that this type of ritual is dangerous and should never be conducted indoors.

“Vegetable oil can ignite very rapidly and cotton is also very ignitable,” Spillar said. “The fire really took off, especially on the hardwood floor, which has lacquer on it.”

The family extinguished the blaze by the time firefighters arrived a few minutes later. But heavy smoke filled the apartment, causing the baby to cough and cry. The boy, Rayan Gandhi, was taken to JFK Medical Center in Edison and was released Thursday morning, Spillar said.

No other apartments in the 12-unit building were damaged. The hardwood floor in the family’s master bedroom was damaged by the fire, and the apartment sustained minor smoke damage, Spillar said.

No charges have been filed, but the incident is still under investigation.

Asbury Park Press
http://www.app.com

TOMS RIVER — A former Little Egg Harbor fire commissioner was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison in connection with his theft of money from the sale of raffle tickets that was supposed to benefit the Mystic Island Volunteer Fire Co.

Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels imposed the prison term on Woodrow Nelson under a plea bargain the defendant reached with the state Attorney General’s Office. The deal spared him a potential 10-year prison term.

Nelson, 50, now of Absecon, pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to official misconduct, admitting to Daniels that he kept the proceeds of raffle tickets he sold between June 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2006.

Under the plea bargain, Deputy Attorney General Erik Daab said he would not oppose Nelson’s entry into the state Parole Department’s Intensive Supervision Program, in which prisoners are given early release but monitored closely in the community.

In addition, charges of theft and passing a bad check were dismissed.

Nelson already has made restitution to the fire company, officials said.

Nelson had been appointed in 2006 to fill a vacancy on the board of Little Egg Fire District 2, which covers Mystic Island. He was removed later that year, when officials learned he was no longer living in the district. His removal occurred around the same time the theft of the raffle ticket proceeds came to light.

Nelson is one of three onetime Little Egg Harbor fire commissioners from District 2 to be convicted of crimes recently.

Edward “Tony” Kluver, 49, onetime commissioner and longtime chief of the Mystic Island company, was sentenced in January to three years in prison for official misconduct. He had served as a commissioner from 1996 until his sentencing.

Leroy Kaufman, 66, was sentenced in February to three years on probation for theft. Kaufman was first elected a fire commissioner in 1988 and served until his sentencing.

Kluver and Kaufman had admitted taking part in a scheme in which they transferred the titles of fire district vehicles to each other. An indictment charging the pair accused Kluver of signing over the title to the district’s 1993 Chevrolet Blazer to Kaufman in 2002, and Kaufman of signing over the title of the district’s 1996 Dodge pickup truck to Kaufman the same year.

Kaufman’s attorney has said that his client went along unwittingly, believing that the vehicles were being traded in to Ocean Chevrolet, and that they were going to buy them back from the dealership.

Asbury Park Press
http://www.app.com

LACEY — A pair of false fire alarms at Lacey Township High School forced about 600
people out into the heat during a local dance studio’s recital this afternoon.

Just before noon, as members of Alice’s Dancin’ Corner prepared to take the stage, power inside the school cut-out and the fire alarm began to sound. Members of the Forked River and Lanoka Harbor fire companies responded to the area, but found there to be no cause for the alarm.

Once audience members and dancers made their way back into the school after
approximately 15 minutes, the alarm sounded once again, forcing another evacuation, police said.

Kathy Bowcock, a Dancin’ Corner employee, said firefighters determined the alarms were being tripped by a faulty sensor inside the building.

Lacey parent Nichole Mathis said the first evacuation was understandable, but the second was very frustrating for the kids.

“But, they were real troopers,” Mathis said. “And, the show must go on.”

Matt Pais

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By allhandsgoingtowork

June 27, 2008

None hurt in New Providence house blaze

STAFF REPORT

The Home News
http://www.mycentraljersey.com

Units from New Providence fire, police and emergency medical services responded to Woodbine Circle for a report of a house fire at 2:48 p.m. Friday, according to a police press release.

Additional fire units from Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Summit and Westfield responded to the fire scene, and fire units from Plainfield, Springfield and Cranford responded to the New Providence Fire House to stand by.

The fire was declared under control at 4:25 p.m. by the on-scene commander.

The residents escaped the residence unharmed, and no firefighters were injured fighting the fire, the police said.

The fire is considered to have been accidental in nature, the police said.

June 27, 2008

Firefighters battling Perth Amboy blaze

The Home News

Staff Report

http://www.mycentraljersey.com
Photos at this link:
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080627/NEWS/80627025&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

A fire has heavily damaged two houses in the city about 1,000 feet north of Route 440.

The fire began at 877 State Street and spread to the adjacent house at 879. Both are two-family houses located close to each other.

Mario Pires, owner of the house at 879 State St., said he was notified by the owner of the house next door that there was a fire, and Pires called 911. He did not know his neighbor’s name.

He said he and his wife, Maria, were at home in the downstairs apartment. Their daughter, son-in-law and grandson live on the second floor.

Pires said everyone got out of the house safely.

“Everything is replaceable,” he said, “but not us.”

Firemen using ladder trucks are still fighting the blaze. Perth Amboy called for help from departments in neighboring towns.

The fire generated heavy smoke, which was drifting over the nearby Outerbridge Crossing between Perth Amboy and Staten Island.

Fire destroys two duplexes in Salem
by South Jersey News Online

SALEM — An early morning blaze destroyed two duplexes on Linden Street here Wednesday as firefighters battled for four hours to bring it under control, according to authorities.

Fire Chief Fred Ayars said that the fire broke out in the unit block of Linden Street at about 1:30 a.m. Firefighters were at the scene until about 4:30 a.m., Ayars said.

There was one occupant in the four apartments when the blaze began, according to Ayars, who was safely evacuated by police. No injuries were reported.

Investigators from the city police department, New Jersey State Police and state Division of Fire Safety are on scene today to determine the cause and origin of the fire.

2 people, fire engine shot in Trenton
by Kevin Shea/The Times
http://www.nj.com
http://www.nj.com/centraljersey/index.ssf/2008/06/2_people_fire_engine_shot_in_t.html
Friday June 27, 2008, 8:16 PM

TRENTON — Two people were shot during unrelated robberies early Friday, and hours earlier a fire engine’s window was shattered by a gunshot as it drove through a neighborhood, all in the North Ward, police said.

No firefighters were injured when Engine 9 was hit with a projectile, possibly from a BB gun, at about 11 p.m. Thursday on West Hanover Street. (Read earlier story)

After the fire engine incident, two people were shot during stick-ups. Police on Friday said they have no evidence that any of the incidents are related.

At 1:25 a.m. Friday in the 600 block of Brunswick Avenue, a 16-year-old male was shot in the arm as he ran from an attempted robbery.

Police said the victim was sitting on the front porch of a residence when he saw the same male walk by four times. The victim ended up approaching the suspicious male and was accosted by the male and a second robber, and one of them had a gun, according to police.

One of the robbers said, “Give it up,” the teen ran, and the robber fired, striking the teen once in the left forearm, police said.

The victim, who was not identified, was taken to Capital Health System at Fuld hospital in Trenton for treatment.

One of the robbers was described as a black male, about 16 to 17 years old, who was wearing a T-shirt, black jeans and a green bandanna at the time. Police did not have a complete description of the second robber.

The second shooting occurred at about 3:20 a.m. in the 1300 block of Princeton Avenue.

The victim, a 21-year-old male, was sitting on the porch of a residence when a robber approached on foot and demanded he hand over his valuables, police said.

The victim ran, and the robber fired one shot, hitting the victim in the right leg, police said.

The victim, who was not identified, was also treated at Fuld hospital.

Police described the robber as a black male, 19 to 21 years old, who wore all black and had a bandanna over his face.

The shooting of Engine 9 occurred as the firefighters were traveling back to the station at West State Street and Lee Avenue after covering for an engine company that was at a fire.

The engine’s supervisor, Capt. Steve Amiott, said Friday that he and his crew definitely felt under fire when the window shattered as they drove down West Hanover Street near Camden Street.

When the firefighters pulled over a block away, on Calhoun Street, they saw a small divot on the window where an American flag decal had been placed. “It was definitely not a rock,” said Amiott, a combat veteran of the current Iraq war who is familiar with firearms.

A firefighter who was sitting a few inches from the window, Kristie J. Jones, was not hurt. The other two windows on the passenger side of the truck were open, Amiott said.

Detectives interviewed the firefighters and Jones said she saw three males as they drove by and one made a motion like he was raising a weapon, but she did not see a firearm and she and other firefighters never heard any gunshots.

Police believe the weapon was a pellet or BB gun, a police spokesman said Friday.

The joint Shooting Response Team is investigating all of the incidents. Anyone with information about the shootings can contact the following detectives: Detective Robert Toth at (609) 989-4017 or rtoth@trentonpolice.net, or Detective Luis Vega at (609) 989-4093 or lvega@trentonpolice.net.

Contact Kevin Shea

Gunfire shatters window of Trenton fire engine
by Michael Ratcliffe/The Times
Friday June 27, 2008, 12:18 AM
http://www.nj.com/centraljersey/index.ssf/2008/06/gunfire_shatters_window_of_tre.html
http://www.nj.com
TRENTON — Police are searching for the gunman who shot one of the windows on a city fire engine late Thursday night, authorities confirmed.
The shot — which is thought to have been a small-caliber projectile — shattered a window on the captain’s, or passenger’s, side of Engine 9’s crew cab.

A firefighter who was sitting a few inches from the window was not hurt.

The shooting occurred about 11 p.m. on West Hanover Street as Engine 9 was headed back to its station at West State Street and Lee Avenue.

Earlier in the evening, Engine 9 was relocated to a more strategic position at fire headquarters on Perry Street in order to better protect the city while other fire companies were busy battling a house fire on Lamberton Street in South Trenton. (Read that story)

Firefighters, immediately realizing they had been shot at, radioed for police assistance. After getting a safe distance away from when the shooting had taken place, Engine 9’s crew stopped on Calhoun Street to assess the damage to their apparatus and to await the arrival of police.

Numerous police cars, both marked and unmarked, patrolled the West Hanover Street area in search of the gunman.

No suspect description is available at this time.

Contact Michael Ratcliffe

CALLING ALL EMS AND FIREFIGHTERS HELP OUT HACKENSACK
Body: On June 30, join the Bergen County Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO as we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 2081 as they say “No to Privatization”! The City of Hackensack has recently been in discussions with Hackensack University Medical Center to replace the Fire Department based Emergency Medical Services with a third party private ambulance company.

The IAFF is calling on all union brothers and sisters to join them for an Informational Demonstration and March that will go passed City Hall then to Hackensack University Medical Center. The demonstration and march will begin at Foschini Park (just off of River Street and E. Salem Street) at 10:30 am.

There are eight Professional Emergency Medical Technicians, who are IAFF Local 2081 members, who are at risk of losing their jobs. To remove these EMS workers from the Fire Department is to remove a highly trained Unit from the city’s command structure in the event of a catastrophe or disaster! Their jobs were created to assist not only residents, or anyone traveling through the city, but also as a support system for the Hackensack Fire Department, Police Department, and DPW Workers. The Fire Department based EMS has been in place for more than 45 years.

Join the Bergen CLC as we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters from IAFF Local 2081 to say no to privatization and to call on the city to put the interests of the community first. Be sure to wear you union colors.

Early Morning Fire Destroys Seaville Structure
Cape May County Herald

SEAVILLE — On June 22, at about 2 a.m., Seaville Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 72 Route 50.

Several other fire companies responded for mutual aid as did Upper Township Rescue Squad.

No further details are available

‘LAST RESORT?’
N. Hudson firehouses face closings
Monday, June 23, 2008
CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey Journal

The regional fire department that covers five North Hudson towns is considering closing some firehouses over the summer to save on overtime and sick pay, officials said last week.

Officials estimate overtime and sick costs for North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue - which covers Guttenberg, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken and West New York - could soar to $1 million this year. That’s double the $500,000 that’s earmarked in the agency’s $30 million budget, officials said.

Rotating firehouse closures is a “last resort,” said Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, adding both vacation and sick time increase in the summer. “It is a very brutal combination when people are taking vacations and others are out sick,” he said.

But Capt. Brian McGorty, a member of the executive board of the North Hudson Fire Officers Association, argued there must be a better way to cut costs.

“We find any thought of closing firehouses very disturbing, because it puts the safety of the firefighters in jeopardy as well as the citizens we are sworn to protect,” McGorty said.

Turner and other officials said the department normally allocates $500,000 to $600,000 for overtime and sick pay. But sick time numbers have been creeping up all year - and being down two firefighters hasn’t helped, Turner said.

And with the onset of June, July and August vacation schedules, “We are trying to keep it from exploding,” Turner added. “We know we are going to be in the $700,000 to $800,000 range.”

As an example of the exploding costs, Turner said two weekends ago - the hottest weekend of the summer so far - six firefighters called in sick. The replacement firefighters cost taxpayers $10,000 since they had to be paid overtime, he said.

Mayors of the five affected municipalities are also considering replacing firefighters in administrative positions with civilians, reducing manpower, and negotiating with unions to spread vacations over the year.

“We are looking to the unions to help control costs,” Turner said. “We are sure they share the same concern about helping the taxpayer.”

McGorty said officers in his union had already backed off demands for pay parity for his members when an agreement was struck with management in May.

“If we were any more flexible we would be Gumbys,” McGorty quipped, referring to the animated character.

Malfunctioning dryer apparently sparks a blaze
Monday, June 23, 2008

The Times-

http://www.NJ.com

LAWRENCE — A dryer fire forced the evacuation of several townhouses in Lawrence Square Village Sunday afternoon.

Police said a neighbor called 911 just before 3 p.m. about a fire in a second-floor residence. All neighbors were safely removed from their homes, and firefighters quickly knocked down the fire, which was believed to be caused by a malfunctioning dryer left running when the owner left home.

Police said there was damage to the laundry room and hallway area in the home. The fire was investigated by the Mercer County fire marshal, Lawrence fire marshal, and Lawrence Detective William Chester, but their determination was that the fire was not suspicious in nature.

Lawrenceville Fire Co., Lawrence Road Fire Co., Slackwood Fire Co., and Mercerville Fire Co. all responded.

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