Washington Township presents plaques to those who responded at a ceremony in October 2005

Local firefighters are kept busy in Louisiana

Published in the Trenton Times on Friday, September 23, 2005 http://www.nj.com

By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE

Staff Writer

Washington Township, N.J., Firefighter Jim Ogle was crawling through the smoke helping drag a heavy hose up a flight of stairs in a burning house in Jefferson Parish, La., late Thursday night when the ceiling suddenly collapsed.

Ogle – one of several Mercer County rescuers deployed to the Gulf Coast states to help out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – missed being hit by most of the debris, but realized the firefighter in front of him had not been so lucky.

That man – a member of the Avondale Volunteer Fire Co., one of the departments in Jefferson Parish – had been hit on his helmet by pieces of the ceiling.

``I yelled to him and tapped him on the shoulder but he didn't respond,'' Ogle told The Times by cell phone yesterday. ``I grabbed him under the arms, lifting him up, and yelled at him again. That's when I knew he was unconscious.''

Lt. Duane Borwegen from the Edison (N.J.) Fire Department worked the nozzle of the hose to protect them from the flames, while Ogle began to carry his comrade down the stairs. Ogle was met half-way by Firefighter Anthony Ambrosio, also of Edison, who grabbed the unconscious man's legs and helped carry him outside.

The firefighter was then taken to a local hospital, where he was found to have suffered a concussion but was otherwise unhurt.

``I'm just glad he's alright,'' said Ogle, down-playing his role as a rescuer. ``He's alive and doing well and that's what matters.''

While Ogle was busy saving the injured firefighter, fellow Washington Township Firefighter Harry Lemmerling helped other Louisiana firefighters fight the two-alarm blaze, which ultimately destroyed the house.

Ironically, it was the second major blaze battled in the same house in as many weeks by Ogle and Lemmerling – who have been responding to emergencies in the New Orleans suburbs with the Nine Mile Point Fire Department since Sept. 11.

Ogle and Lemmerling and two other Washington Township firefighters left Mercer County on Sept. 3, flying to Atlanta in response to FEMA's call for help in the Gulf Coast states.

After a couple days training, the four were separated. Capt. Dave Horsnall and Firefighter Ed Haemmerle were sent on a relief assignment, while Lemmerling and Ogle were assigned to another group made up of the firefighters from Edison and others from around the county.

(Horsnall and Haemmerle returned to Mercer County last night, their assignment completed.) On Sept. 7, Lemmerling and Ogle's group drove from Atlanta to Baton Rouge, La. The next morning they started their assignment, which was to go into the storm-ravaged area and assess damage and emergency response capabilities.

Using the Nine Mile Point firehouse as a base, they finished their assessment of the area in two just day. After a debriefing, they were officially assigned back to the firehouse to help with actual firefighting efforts.

``They needed manpower,'' Lemmerling said. ``Their own people had been working 24 hours straight and hadn't seen their families.''

The two pitched and started riding to fire calls, using gear loaned to them by Nine Mile Point. Their own gear was express-shipped from New Jersey days later.

During their first night at the firehouse, they battled a house fire. So far they've fought a half-dozen major fires, including the two in the same house.

The firehouse's bay doors were torn off in the storm, so firefighters built a makeshift living area inside the station's apparatus bay. Inside this 15-by-40-foot area, which is fitted with an air conditioner, Lemmerling and Ogle and the other firefighters have been sleeping on cots and air mattresses when not responding to alarms.

Lemmerling and Ogle praised the Nine Mile Point firefighters who, despite the spartan conditions, have been extremely hospitable. Lemmerling singled out Nine Mile Point Lt. Paul ``Cookie'' Hymel. ``He's been here every day cooking for us. He makes us breakfast, lunch and dinner,'' he said.

Lemmerling said the area ``looks like a war zone,'' with military vehicles and blackhawk and chinook helicopters and police officers everywhere.

He said the devastation he has seen is overwhelming.

``Everywhere the ground is covered in sludge. It's so bad it's difficult to explain,'' Lemmerling said. ``There are trees down – shredded, uprooted on houses. Cars flipped over. There are vehicles that have floated into buildings. There were these two houses in the middle of the road – the water just obliterated the area and pushed everything to the side.''

While Lemmerling has not found any human victims, he said he did have the unfortunate task of searching an animal hospital that was full of dead pets. ``None of them made it out of there,'' he said

Lemmerling and Ogle, both recently married, have stayed in touch with their wives through cell phones. They said Washington Township Fire Chief Kevin Brink has been checking in with their families to make sure they are OK and do not need anything.

Their deployment with FEMA is slated to last until Oct. 3, but that may change depending on what Hurricane Rita does. Meanwhile, they will continue to do what they can to help, they said.

Published in the Trentonian on 09/23/2005

http://www.trentonian.com

VICTORIA ST. MARTIN, Staff Writer

TRENTON — For some, saving a person from a burning home may seem like an impossible feat but for one Washington Township fireman, who is miles away from home, helping people is part of his daily routine.

Jim Ogle is one of five men sent to the Gulf Coast last month by the township fire department to assist local departments after Hurricane Katrina. Ogle, 28, has fought his share of fires in the past weeks and even saved a fellow fireman Wednesday night during a two alarm house fire.

Along with the help of an Edison fireman, Ogle pulled the area fireman out of a burning Jefferson Parish home and to safety on a front lawn. The unknown fire fighter, from Avondale, was knocked unconscious by a collapsing ceiling.

The initial 7:55 p.m. call of the house fire at 152 Helen Dr. sparked deja vu in heads of team members — made up of firemen from New Jersey and Missouri — that night, said Harry Lemmerling from Washington Township. Three days prior the team, which is based out of the Nine Mile Point Fire Department in New Orleans, La., had fought the same exact fire at the same house.

When the team arrived to the Helen Drive home, Ogle entered directly behind a local Avondale fire fighter, who had told other teammates that he was carrying a walkie talkie. As Ogle and three other fire fighters fought through the heavy smoke, he said, they approached a stairwell to the home’s second floor when the ceiling collapsed.

All of the men began brushing debris off each other, but when Ogle tapped on Avondale fire fighter’s helmet, he got no response.

"I pulled him back and realized that he was unconscious," he said. "I got him by the shoulders and dragged him out."

Anthony Ambrosio of Edison helped Ogle carry the injured fireman by grabbing his legs and the pair took him to safety.

"It’s just one of those things that you train for but you never think might happen," said Ogle, who joined Washington Township’s Fire Department in September of 2002. "My only concern was that he’s O.K."

The injured fireman suffered a concussion and was treated at West Jefferson Medical Center. He was released a few hours later.

The team resides inside makeshift bunks at the Nine Mile Point Fire Department and the firemen from Washington Township are expected to return on Oct. 3, said Kevin Brink, chief of the township fire department.

"We are extremely proud and glad that he was there to help another brother fireman out," said Brink. "We are ecstatic and happy to help."

Two members of the Washington Township Fire Department returned home yesterday.

Edison's bravest fight fire in South

Published in the Home News Tribune Online 09/23/05

By KEN SERRANO
STAFF WRITER
kserrano@thnt.com

EDISON — Township Firefighters Ralph Ambrosio III and Lt. Duane Borwegen traveled to New Orleans Sept. 3 to help the residents of the hurricane-battered city get back on their feet.

After assessing the shape of fire departments at the behest of the Federal Emergency Mangement Agency, they told federal officials in Baton Rouge, La., what fire companies needed most was manpower.

So they returned, this time to battle blazes.

The Avondale Fire Department in a suburb on the outskirts of New Orleans was lucky they were there Wednesday night.

Both Edison men were in a burning building when a ceiling collapsed on an Avondale fireman, knocking him unconscious. Ambrosio and Jim Ogle, a firefighter in Washington Township, Mercer County, dragged the man to safety while Borwegen protected them with a fire hose, authorities said.

Capt. Josh Thomas of the Avondale Fire Department, said it's the second time in five days that flames swept through the two-story wood-frame home. The first was an electrical fire. Wednesday night's fire was intentionally set, he said.

The arsonist has not been captured.

About 30 firefighters turned out for the two-alarm blaze, called in about 7 p.m.

When firefighters arrived, flames had already engulfed the rear of the building, Thomas said. The family was not at home, evacuated for Hurricane Katrina.

The two Edison firefighters, Ogle and Avondale firefighter Al Ortiz went into the burning building to fight it from within.

Flames were all around them, Ambrosio, 34, said over the phone yesterday.

"We were trying to get ahead of it," he said.

They began walking up stairs when a piece of Sheetrock fell about

15 feet, hitting Ortiz in the head and Borwegen on the shoulder. Ortiz, whose helmet probably saved him,was treated at a local hospital and released.

The "Jersey guys," Thomas said, "are tough guys and they've been a big help . . . Everything we ask, they do."

The Edison men are sleeping in a makeshift dorm in the Nine Mile Point firehouse in Jefferson Parish, La., where they are stationed. It's an area that was hit by much wind damage during Hurricane Katrina. The bay doors to the firehouse were blown off, Ambrosio said.

There are small rewards aside from the satisfaction of volunteering. The firehouse cook, a man of course named Cookie, serves up "awesome" gumbo and other dishes, Ambrosio said.

The devastation, however, is never far away.

"It rips your heart out to see these poor people," he said. "But most people have great attitudes."

When not putting out fires, the men hand out water, ice and food to victims or help with the damaged homes of firefighters and local residents.

"You feel good helping them out," Borwegen said. "The people here have big hearts."

With Hurricane Rita stirring in the gulf last night, Borwegen said they are going to wait it out with their fellow firefighters.

Edison firefighters rescue fallen comrade in La.

Man knocked unconscious by debris in burning house

Published in the Star-Ledger on Friday, September 23, 2005 http://www.nj.com

BY TOM HAYDON

Star-Ledger Staff

Between them, Ralph Ambrosio and Dwayne Borwegin have 23 years' experience on the Edison Fire Department.

On Wednesday, the two firefighters who are assisting in the flood-ravaged Gulf Coast, had their experience put to the test. They, along with another New Jersey firefighter, James Ogle, of the Washington Fire Department in Robbinsville, rescued a Louisiana firefighter knocked unconscious by a falling ceiling in a burning home.

Borwegin, a lieutenant with the Edison department, Ambrosio and Ogle were working with a firefighter from the Nine Mile Point Fire Department in Jefferson Parish in Louisiana.

About 7:55 p.m., Borwegin was working the nozzle of the fire hose on the second floor of a split-level home, with the local fireman and Ogle right behind him, when the ceiling caved in, knocking the local firefighter unconscious, said Edison Fire Chief Robert Campbell.

As Borwegin continued handling the hose to keep back flames, Ogle checked the condition of the injured man and started carrying him downstairs as Ambrosio came up the steps to assist, Ogle said yesterday when reached in Louisiana.

The two men carried the unconscious firefighter from the building, then rushed back to assist Borwegin, Campbell said. The fire chief on the scene quickly ordered all firefighters out of the building, Campbell said.

"Just doing what had to be done," Ogle said yesterday.

The injured firefighter suffered a mild concussion, the chief said.

Ambrosio, Borwegin, and Ogle went to Louisiana on Sept. 3 to assess the condition of fire departments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and report to officials about what was needed. But then they were assigned to assist their Louisiana counterparts.

"I'm glad Edison's been able to do its part to help the Gulf Coast region," said Edison Mayor George Spadoro. "I'm even more proud of the work that Lt. Borwegin and firefighter Ambrosio have done. Their bravery and dedication are fine examples of the level of professionalism of Edison's public safety responders."

Borwegin, 35, a Navy veteran, and Ralph Ambrosio, 33, had planned to come home today, but with the threat of Hurricane Rita striking another blow to the damaged area, Louisiana authorities urged the Edison firefighters to stay, Anthony Ambrosio said.

Depending on the path of the latest storm, plans were being made for the New Jersey men to leave Jefferson Parish for Baton Rouge, the deputy chief said.