Fire Damages Garfield Park Home

Willingboro Firefighters battled a smokey house fire at 19 Griffin Lane on the afternoon of April 10th. The department was called to the property at 1:44 pm when a neighbor called to report the house on fire. Chief of Department Burnett arrived in two minutes and found heavy smoke coming from a two story home. The resident, who was home at the time of the fire, was waiting outside after being notified of the fire by a neighbor.

Engine 1613 was on location five minutes after dispatch and the crew prepared to extinguish the fire. Firefighters Carcasio and J. Clark entered the home with a 2" handline and encountered heavy smoke. The crew eventually found fire in the attic, and Captain Ramsey noticed fire through the roof in the rear of the home. The crew used hand tools and the handline to start extinguishing the fire.

Later arriving crews from Westampton and Mount Laurel entered the home to assist Willingboro Firefighters. The Westampton crew worked on the first floor with 1613's crew. Mount Laurel's crew went to the second floor with a 1 3/4" handline and hand tools to access the fire in the attic. A crew from Delran was used to remove the soffit vents from the outside of the second floor attic area.

The crews were able to quickly control the fire and keep it from spreading throughout the entire attic. The home sustained damage to the first and second floors and was deemed uninhabitable by the Willingboro Township Construction Official's Office. An investigation was conducted by the Burlington County Fire Marshal's Office. The fire was found to be caused when a squirrel chewed through electrical wires, which shorted out and started the fire.

There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters during the fire. The American Red Cross was called to assist the homeowner with temporary housing. All crews were cleared from the scene at 5 pm.