™
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP (MERCER) – Firefighters from Lawrence Township and several area fire companies encountered flash over type conditions as they made a very aggressive interior attack on a 2 story apartment complex. The fire occurred at 180 Franklin Corner Road in Building E just before 12:45 p.m. on Saturday May 31, 2008. Firefighters on initial dispatch were notified that there was a child possibly trapped on the 2nd floor. A severe thunderstorm was moving though the area just before the time of the alarm.
Further particulars will be available shortly.
------------------
NJ.com /Trenton Times update:
Two firefighters injured in Lawrence apartment blaze
by Jeff Trently and Mike Ratcliffe/The Times
http://www.nj.com
LAWRENCE -- Four apartment units were
rendered uninhabitable and two
firefighters were injured battling a
two-alarm blaze at the Lawrenceville
Gardens Apartments Saturday.
Officials said the cause of the fire was
electrical.
A neighbor of the Franklin Corner Road
apartments reported smoke coming from a
second-floor window of Building E around
12:30 Saturday afternoon.
Police encountered heavy smoke coming
from the second floor of an end
apartment unit when they arrived, Sgt.
David Buxton said. Officers James
Vardanega and Ed Podbielski evacuated
the building.
Firefighters arrived a short time later
with reports of a child still trapped on
the second floor. The report turned out
to be false, but two firefighters were
injured while searching for the child.
Slackwood Fire Co. firefighter Chris
Laird suffered back injuries when a
ceiling collapsed on him and Lawrence
Road Fire Co. firefighter Keith Kent
suffered a burn on his hand. Both were
treated at Capital Health System at Fuld
hospital in Trenton and released,
officials said.
Full story in Sunday's Times
----------------------
Blaze damages apartments
2 firefighters hurt battling fire in Lawrence
Sunday, June 01, 2008
BY MIKE RATCLIFFE AND JEFF TRENTLY
Trenton Times
http://www.nj.com
Officials said the cause of the fire was electrical.
A neighbor of the Franklin Corner Road apartments reported smoke coming from a second-floor window of Building E around 12:30 yesterday afternoon.
Police encountered heavy smoke coming from the second floor of an end apartment unit when they arrived, Sgt. David Buxton said. Officers James Vardanega and Ed Podbielski evacuated the building.
Firefighters arrived a short time later with reports of a child still trapped on the second floor. The report turned out to be false, but two firefighters were injured while searching for the child.
Slackwood Fire Co. firefighter Chris Laird suffered back injuries when a ceiling collapsed on him and Lawrence Road Fire Co. firefighter Keith Kent suffered a burn on his hand. Both were treated at Capital Health System at Fuld hospital in Trenton and released, officials said.
Dozens of other firefighters were examined by emergency medical workers as a precaution.
The blaze was declared under control about 1:20 p.m. Lawrenceville Fire Co. Assistant Chief Gary Wasko was in command.
Four apartment units were damaged and electricity was cut off to them, Buxton said. One of the units was vacant, Red Cross spokeswoman Diane Concannon said.
Of the three occupied units, one family was not home at the time of the fire and is staying with family and friends, she said. Two other families have been displaced by the blaze.
The Red Cross is providing food, clothing and shelter to one of the displaced families. The other family is staying with friends and family, but will receive food assistance, she said.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Trentonian: http://www.trentonian.com
Inferno devastates homes
By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman
LAWRENCE — Two firefighters were injured yesterday
afternoon as they battled a raging two-alarm fire that
destroyed four apartment units and displaced three
families, according to township officials.
The electrical fire began minutes after noon inside a
second-floor Lawrenceville Gardens residence in the “E”
building. Before firefighters arrived, two police
officers put their lives on the line as they evacuated
everyone from the scorching building.
“Officer Jim Vardanega kicked in the door where the fire
started to make sure nobody was in,” said Sgt. David
Buxton of the Lawrence Police Department. “The occupants
were not home in the unit where it started. ... If they
were in that unit, they wouldn’t be alive. The fire was
going that good.
“Upon our arriving, the windows blew out and the smoke
was black and thick. Once the windows broke, the flames
shot out, probably about 20 feet high.”
A local “On Scene On Line” photographer who arrived
early to the scene told The Trentonian that Officer
Vardanega was “dirty and smoky” as he was “driven back
by smoke and fire. The fire was roaring through the
house.”
While Vardanega checked to see if anyone was inside the
unit where the fire originated, Officer Ed Podbielski
evacuated everyone from the “E” building, which was
about 15 people from a dozen units.
The three township fire companies quickly arrived to
attack the flames alongside several fire companies from
surrounding communities. No civilians were injured, but
the two firefighters — Chris Laird (Slackwood Fire Co.)
and Keith Kent (Lawrence Road Fire Co.) — who suffered
minor injuries were sent to Capital Health System-Fuld
Campus hospital.
One received treatment for a burn to the arm and the
other received treatment for back injuries he suffered
when a collapsing rafter fell on his helmet, according
to Sgt. Buxton. Both were released from the hospital
yesterday afternoon.
It took the fire companies about an hour to bring the
blaze under control.
One of the four destroyed units was unoccupied,
officials said. All three displaced families went to a
relatives’ household for shelter.
Three people — a husband, wife and their 16-year-old
child — lived in the gutted residence where the fire
erupted. The other gutted second-floor apartment was
occupied by a couple, and another couple lived in the
neighboring first-floor apartment that suffered
extensive fire, smoke and water damage, according to
Buxton.
After the fire trucks pulled out, apartment officials
remained on the scene to secure the destroyed housing
units. Workers were boarding up those units to prevent
people from roaming inside.
Lawrenceville Gardens dwellers who live near the fire
site said the fierce blaze was “tragic” and “horrible.”
“I’m surprised,” said an apartment resident who saw
multiple fire engines dousing the fire as he pulled into
the Gardens’ parking lot. “I was just praying ‘don’t be
my apartment.’” His unit was unaffected.
Officials said the fire was electrical in nature,
apparently sparked by a bent extension cord located
behind a dresser.
Video and photos by:
Firefighters were treated by EMS and transported to the local hospital after a very aggressive interior attack risking their lives searching for a missing child on the 2nd floor.
