Willingboro Firefighters Battle Another House Fire

At 12:01 pm on Tuesday, February 12th, Willingboro Firefighters were called to 24 Hadley Lane for a reported house fire. As the A Platoon was leaving the station in Engine 1613 they, along with Chief of Department Burnett, noticed a column of smoke from the area of Hadley Lane. Chief Burnett arrived in minutes to find a two story home with heavy fire showing from the rear of the home, and reports of an elderly woman trapped inside.

Engine 1613 arrived right behind Chief Burnett and connected to a hydrant as the crew pulled a 2" handline. Firefighters Friddell and Fresco entered the home to find heavy smoke, fire, and heat on the first floor. In addition to these conditions, they discovered a broken gas line that was on fire. Chief Burnett quickly called for a 2nd alarm as Captain Sitzenstock pulled a 1 ¾" handline to back-up the crew that was already in the house. Firefighter Clark was breaking windows of the home to help release the smoke, heat, and fire. It was quickly determined that nobody was trapped in the home.

As the crews pushed further into the home they found a rear addition to the home was heavily involved in fire as well as the kitchen, laundry room, and family room. Additional crews from Willingboro and surrounding towns began to arrive on scene 10 minutes after the arrival of Engine 1613. These crews would have to deploy a 2 ½" "blitz" line and a second 1 ¾" handline to completely extinguish the fire. Several of these crews were also used to break windows to ventilate the smoke and heat from the home, and to check for hidden fire on the second floor.

Chief Burnett placed the fire under control at 12:46 pm. Crews from Hainesport and Delran were on stand-by in Willingboro's firehouse in case of other emergencies in the town. One resident was transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation by Willingboro EMS. Several crews remained on scene until 5 pm to assist with the investigation and to remove burned debris from the home. The American Red Cross was called to assist the residents with housing, and a board-up company was called to secure the home.

The fire is being investigated by the Willingboro Fire Official's Office, the Burlington County Fire Marshal's Office, and the Willingboro Police Department. There is no official cause to the fire at this time.

To hear audio of the fire see the following link: http://www.firegroundaudio.com/audio/Burlco/02_12_2008_24_Hadley.mp3