At 02:58 on Wednesday October 10th, Station 51 was called out to a residential structure fire on Pennington Rocky Hill Rd. in Hopewell Township. The dispatch was an immediate first alarm which included Station 51, Station 52, Station 53, RIT 22 (Lawrence Road Fire Company) and Tower 60 (Princeton Fire Department). Officers from the Hopewell Township Police Department arrived on scene first and confirmed a working structure fire. Chief 52 (Hopewell Fire Department) was the first arriving fire unit and informed all responding units of heavy fire conditions. Apparatus Station 51 and 52 were on scene shortly there after and established an immediate water supply using a hydrant directly across the street. Crews made entry into the structure by forcing the front door. Interior crews eventually experienced hazardous conditions and at this point the fire was through the roof. An emergency evacuation procedure was initiated and crews exited the structure. Operations went into defensive mode to suppress the flames from the exterior. Eventually the fire was knocked and crews returned to interior operations to hit hotspots and begin overhauling. The fire was out by 5:00AM. Station 51 apparatus returned to quarters around 6:00AM.
Cover assignments were established for all valley companies during this incident. Initially, Engine 31 (Prospect Heights Fire Company) and Tower 23 (Lawrenceville Fire Company) were sent to cover Station 51. Eventually these units were requested to the scene by command for additional manpower. Ladder 49 (Plainsboro Fire Company) was then dispatched to take their place. Thank you to these companies for covering our station!
List of responding units to this incident (including some cover assignments):
- -Station 52 (Hopewell Fire Department)
- -Station 53 (Union Fire Company & Rescue Squad)
- -Squad 151 (Pennington First Aid Squad)
- -Squad 152 (Hopewell EMS)
- -RIT 22 (Lawrence Road Fire Company)
- -Tower 23 (Lawrenceville Fire Company)
- -Engine 31 (Prospect Heights Fire Company)
- -Ladder 49 (Plainsboro Fire Company)
- -Tower 60 (Princeton Fire Department)
- -Engine 46 (Montgomery Twp. Fire Company #2)
- -Engine 26 (West Amwell Twp. Fire Company)