Winds complicate fight against blaze
By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE
Staff Writer, Trenton Times, http://www.nj.com
10/25/01
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- More than 100 firefighters from four counties spent hours yesterday trying to contain, control and extinguish a hard-to-reach, wind-whipped fire in the middle of a densely wooded area off Route 33 just east of the Hamilton border.
Firefighters were notified of the blaze at 3:19 p.m. and were still on the scene at press time. They said they expected to be there well after midnight.
A helicopter from the state Forest Fire Service made several flights, scooping water from a nearby pond and dumping it on the flames in an effort to assist firefighters battling the blaze from the ground.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation last night but officials said beer cans and other evidence suggested the wooded area had been used by juveniles as a hang-out and an unattended campfire may have spread to the surrounding brush.
A resident living in the area of Route 33 and Washington Boulevard reported the blaze after seeing smoke coming from the woods, officials said.
Washington Township Fire Department Lt. Kevin Brink, who was in command of the first engine on the scene, said he and his crew had to walk for about 15 minutes through heavily overgrown terrain to reach the source of the heavy smoke that blanketed the area. At that time, the area of brush, leaves and trees that was burning was about 300-by-300 feet. "But it was spreading fast," he said.
Because there was no real access to the area of the fire, firefighters used chain saws, shovels and other tools to cut away small trees, shrubs and other obstructions to make a path for "brush trucks" -- specialized fire engines designed for off-road firefighting, Brink said.
Township Fire Chief Al Walker directed firefighting efforts from a command post set up outside the Children's World Learning Center off Route 33. Called to assist Washington firefighters were crews from Mercerville, Rusling Hose, DeCou Hose, Enterprise, Nottingham, Colonial, Groveville, Lawrenceville, Prospect Heights, East Windsor No. 1, West Windsor and Princeton Junction fire companies of Mercer County; Mission Fire Co. of Burlington County; Applegarth Fire Co. of Middlesex County; and Hope Fire Co. of Monmouth County.
The Forest Fire Service chopper, which scooped water from the new pond at the town center off Hutchinson Road, made three drops on the fire, said township fire department Lt. Dennis Symons.
The exact size of the area on fire was not known last night, Symons said, but firefighters believed it to be more than 1,000 feet wide and perhaps 500 feet deep.
There were no injuries reported last night, but Trenton's Signal 22, a volunteer fire and police canteen unit, was called to the scene to provide refreshments to exhausted firefighters.
