The Washington Township Fire Department sent firefighters to this multi-alarm fire in West Windsor to provide assistance. Firefighters from at least 12 local departments were operating on scene. This story was taken from the Trenton Times website: http://www.nj.com/mercer/times
Blaze ravages apartments
08/28/01
By KEVIN SHEA
Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR -- An intense fire tore through an apartment building in the Avalon Watch complex on Clarksville Road early yesterday morning, leaving about a dozen families homeless.
And three township police officers are being credited with possibly saving some residents' lives.
When they arrived at the burning building at 1:45 a.m., the officers went inside, banged on the door of every apartment and assisted several sleepy residents down the smoky stairs and outside to safety.
None of the residents of the three-story, 14-unit building was injured, but six units suffered serious fire damage and the rest either were uninhabitable because of smoke and water damage or had their utilities cut off, officials said.
The first emergency call from the building was for a report of smoke, said police Sgt. Dave Mansue. But Officer Frank Bal, the first to arrive, found flames shooting from a second-floor apartment and rapidly spreading up and down the apartment building.
Bal and Officer Matt Kemp recorded their actions and those of Officer Pete Hanna on cameras mounted inside their patrol cars. Mansue played both tapes for a reporter yesterday.
Flames could be seen consuming the middle, second-floor apartment when Bal arrived. He ran across a parking lot to the building and hurdled a fence.
A woman and two young girls, clad in night gowns, emerged from a parked car, where they were waiting. They ran across the parking lot after Bal instructed them to move to a safer location.
Mansue said the fire started in that family's apartment. The three fled after smelling smoke and dialing 911. They banged on a few doors themselves, said Mansue, who declined to identify the family.
Bal raced inside the burning apartment building without fire gear, brandishing only a flashlight. He left his car's siren wailing to alert residents.
West Windsor officers wear microphones to communicate with the cameras, and Bal could be heard shouting: "Anybody in here!" as he banged on doors with his fists.
"C'mon ma'am, the whole . . . thing's on fire!" he yelled another time.
Kemp arrived seconds later and also could be seen running into the apartment building as residents, apparently dazed and confused, walked out of the building clutching clothes.
Hanna performed the same actions on the other side of the building, said Mansue.
Kemp, still smelling of smoke, recalled yesterday how he could barely see as he led people to safety. He said Hanna brought a fire extinguisher inside the building, but it was useless because of the size of the flames.
Said Mansue: "The officers did an excellent job alerting people, running inside the way they did without regard for their (own) safety.
"Really, some (residents) had no clue what was going on," he said.
Mansue said one of the residents later told an officer she looked out of her window when she heard a police car's siren and figured a police chase had concluded at Avalon Watch, so she went back to bed.
As the cameras rolled, the fire grew in intensity, and the burning balcony railings fell from the building as flames curled onto the roof.
Princeton Junction Fire Co. Chief Dennis Huber was the first fire official at the scene, and the camera captured him donning a fire jacket and waiting for firefighters on the engines with breathing apparatus.
About seven or eight minutes after arriving, some firefighters began dousing the building with water as others entered the building while a succession of firefighting apparatus arrived. Later, two crews of firefighters could be seen on the building's roof, flanking the flames.
Huber said the fire was so hot that when the first team of firefighters reached the second floor, they were forced to stay at the door with their hose.
Firefighters worked, said Huber, as floors collapsed, sending burning furniture to the floor below.
Huber said he eventually summoned about 75 firefighters from 12 local fire companies to the scene. The fire wasn't under control until about 4 a.m. Crews were still at the building yesterday afternoon.
The cause of the fire had not been determined yesterday, but it does not appear suspicious, Mansue said.
Emergency response officials from the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey arrived at the fire about 4 a.m. and assisted many of the families, said Ricardo Griffith, coordinator of emergency services.
"We've provided some clothing for the families, and we're working with the management company to see what other needs they have," Griffith said. "At this stage, there was a mixture of adults and kids."
The Red Cross did not have to open a shelter for the residents because all accepted shelter provided by the management company or stayed with relatives, Griffith said.
Avalon Watch management officials declined comment yesterday, referring questions to their parent company, Avalon Bay in Virginia.
By 10 a.m., township officials had arranged for a wrecking crew to tear down what remained of sections of the building that had already collapsed. A dirt ramp was built to allow the equipment to roll up to the charred building.
An afternoon thunderstorm delayed some of the work, police said later in the day.
Avalon Watch is one of several complexes owned or operated by Avalon Bay. The building that burned is on Jamie Brooks Lane and is one of the first buildings in the 22-building complex, which covers 64 acres.
Avalon Watch has one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and features such amenities as an outdoor pool, indoor racquetball court, a workout room with sauna, ceramic-tiled baths, and postal and private-shipping service.
Staff writer Karen Ayres contributed to this report..