QUICK RESPONSE SAVES MOTEL
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (Mercer
County)—A fire burning in and around a dumpster scorched a motel wall on Route
130 on Sunday Afternoon July 9, 2000. Washington
Township Fire Departments paid firefighters were dispatched for a still alarm
(single engine response, used for nuisance calls and known small fires) while
en-route the alarm was upgraded to a full fist alarm due to the close proximity
of the dumpster and other burning materials to the building. The upgraded alarm
called for additional apparatus manned by the volunteer firefighters from
Washington Township.
Upon arrival water was applied to the smoking wall of
the hotel to cool the exposure and then the fire was extinguished. Firefighters
removed a small section of siding to check for extension. Upon investigation the
intense flames came from flammables and old tires in and around the dumpster.
Overhead wires to the buildings fire alarm were damaged as well as the cable
television lines. PSE&G responded to check the status of the overhead power
lines. The hotel owner recently had the dumpster moved to that location and the
owner was told to have the dumpster moved away from the building at a different
location.
A response time of less than two minutes by the fire
department’s staff was accredited to keeping the fire from spreading into the
exposure.
