Fire Destroys Home In Garfield East Section Of Willingboro

Willingboro firefighters battled not only fire, but the elements as well when they responded to a house fire at 37 Eastern Lane in the Garfield East section of town. At 8:40 am on January 14th, firefighters received a call for a house filling with smoke. While enroute to the home, the crew of Engine 1613 was advised that police on location reported heavy smoke coming from the house. Within 6 minutes of dispatch, Engine 1613 arrived on scene and found a 2-story Cape Cod style home with heaving smoke showing from the attic vents of the second floor. Chief of Department Burnett arrived shortly thereafter and assumed the Command position and Captain Ramsey became the Operations officer.

Firefighter's Ferrell and Bennett entered the home with a 1 3/4" handline and made their way to the second floor of the home. Willingboro Township Police officers pulled 300' of 5" supply hose to a hydrant on Elk Pass so that Engine 1613 would have an adequate water supply. Once on the second floor the firefighters found relatively clear conditions and started to open the walls to search for the fire. As they started to open the walls they were hit with a large amount of smoke and heat and had to quickly make their way close to the floor. Fire had also broken through the garage roof and extended into a second floor bedroom window which caught the bedroom on fire.

Captain Ramsey then sent a crew from Westampton to the second floor to assist 1613's crew in battling the fire. Both crews were opening up the walls to gain access to the heavy volume of fire that was in attic of the second floor. With two crews working upstairs, Captain Ramsey then sent a crew from Mount Laurel to extinguish fire that was now burning on the first floor of the home. Captain Ramsey and Chief Burnett continued to monitor the conditions, and after getting reports of the heavy fire conditions on the inside, they made a decision to remove all firefighters from the home.

Once the "Fireground Evacuation Plan" was announced to all firefighters via their portable radios Captain Ramsey started to direct fire suppression efforts from the exterior of the home. Willingboro Ladder 1615 was given a water supply from Engine 1613 and was put into service as fire was now through the roof of the entire home. Several crews also used two 1 3/4" handlines, and one 2" handline to extinguish some of the fire from the outside. Crews were able to bring the fire under control at 9:38 am.

Not only did the firefighters have to battle the fire, they had to fight the cold and icy conditions that were created during the incident. The moderate winds helped to fan the flames and sometimes made putting water on the fire difficult. The cold also created ice on the ground which was a slipping hazard for everyone that was operating at the fire. Willingboro Township Public Works was called to the scene to salt the ice covered street. Many of the firefighters and apparatus on scene were covered in ice by the time the crews were leaving the scene.

Even with the heavy fire and ice conditions, no civilians or firefighters were injured during the fire. The fire is under investigation by the Willingboro Township Fire Official's office and the cause has not been determined as of this time. The American Red Cross was called to the scene to assist 4 adults that were living in the home with temporary housing and other needs. The fire went to a total of two alarms and all units were cleared from the scene at 12:03 pm.