5th Alarm in Metuchen

 

Photos by Steven Kadir

 

METUCHEN BOROUGH (Middlesex County) – Members of the Metuchen Fire Department and numerous mutual aid departments battled a five-alarm blaze that destroyed a pizzeria during the morning of Sunday, December 23, 2007. A hardware store located in the same building as the restaurant was saved thanks to the firefighters’ efforts. A passerby spotted smoke coming from LaRosa’s Pizza at 655 Middlesex Avenue shortly before 9 a.m. Members of Metuchen’s Eagle Hook & Ladder Co. and Washington Hose Co. arrived on scene just minutes later to find a well-advanced fire raging inside the pizzeria, which had not yet opened for business for the day. Mutual aid was immediately requested as Metuchen firefighters mounted an aggressive interior attack. Rapidly deteriorating conditions forced firefighters to evacuate the pizzeria and switch to a defensive operation. Multiple handlines and aerial master streams were put to work and a trench cut was performed on the roof as crews successfully worked to prevent flames from extending into the Boro Hardware store which shared the one-story building. Ultimately, about 100 firefighters from Metuchen, Edison, South Plainfield, Piscataway, Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, New Brunswick, Monroe, and elsewhere operated on the fireground. Middlesex County HazMat also responded because of all the solvents, paints, fertilizers, and other items in the hardware store. It took about three hours for the fire to be fully extinguished. Three firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze.