Welcome to Jackson Station 55

Station 55 has been contacted once again by North Pole Enterprises to advise that Santa Claus will be riding with the fire department starting on Saturday, December 15, at approximately 3 p.m.  Santa will continue his trip via fire apparatus as needed until all of Fire District 3 streets have been visited — which may include the evenings of Tuesday December 18 and Wednesday December 19.  Since the fire department is “in service” during Santa’s visits, any emergency runs requiring the department may delay Santa’s tour.  Santa has been known to take in a box alarm or two in his day.

We know everyone is excited to see St. Nick, but ask parents cooperation by keeping children on the sidewalk, lawns or driveways and not run ahead of the fire apparatus in the street.  Everyone will have the opportunity to see Santa as he passes through the neighborhoods.

Listen closely as he says “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all” on his grand tour of the fire district!

A natural gas leak inside a single-family residence on Dogwood Drive resulted in the evacuation of almost a dozen homes in Jackson Saturday afternoon, November 10, 2012.  No one was home at the time of the incident.  Fire department personnel were called to the home at 1:16 p.m. by a representative of NJ Natural Gas Co. already on scene who advised arriving fire fighters that the home was full of gas, and that a serious gas leak was still in progress.  Station 55 Fire Chief Tim Carson stated “we used every precaution to lower the levels of gas in the house in a controlled, safe manner that included having JCP&L cut power to the neighborhood to reduce the risk of an explosion.”   Fire fighters and the gas company representative found that an uncapped gas line had been turned on in the basement resulting in a free flow of gas into the structure.  The ventilation process took almost five hours to complete.  There were no injuries.  The Jackson Police Department is investigating the circumstances that led to the leak.

Fire fighters from Station 54, 55, 56, 57 and the Southard Fire Department 19-3 battled a building fire at the Coldwell Banker Realtor office located at 2052 West County Line Road on Thursday morning November 8, 2012 just before 6 a.m. during the nor’easter Athena winter storm.  While two engine companies 5541 and 5511 were committed around the corner at Metedeconk Trail and Brewers Bridge Road with primary wires down and burning in front of a residence and in proximity to a natural gas line, Assistant Chief Mike Waters 5510 with Assistant Safety Officer Nick Prioli 5580 responded from the Brewers Bridge job, established incident command, and reported a working fire, with fire showing on Sides A, D and the C/D corner.  Chief Carson 5500 sounded a second alarm from the storm control at Station 55.  There were live downed service wires from the fire building laying on the ground at the A/B corner.  Jackson Mills Engine 5421 laid all of their 5″ bed down County Line, and Tower Ladder 5505 picked up the 5″ and laid their own 5″ line in to the fire, in position for aerial attack as well as providing a 2 1/2″ hand line to the fire.  Since Engine 5521 with a crew was deployed to Brick Township to assist in the Hurricane efforts, Captain Ed Moore and the crew on Engine 5531 laid their 5″ line from Melody Lane down County Line in the opposite direction as 5505, and immediately supplied a 2 1/2″ hand line to the fire.  Crews alternated between the fire building and an adjacent exposure to 2050 West County Line.  Southard Fire Department’s Ladder Tower 19-3-90 was positioned across the street in the eastbound lanes of the divided highway and provided an aerial master stream, supplied by their pumper/tanker.  Southard 19-3 also provided a RIT team for the incident. Additional fire fighters were provided by Cassville Engine 5621 and Rescue 5503.  Jackson Mills Station 54 Rehab Trailer provided hot coffee and a place for fire fighters to warm up and rest.  A primary and secondary search of the building resulted in no occupants being located.  The quick attack stopped the progression of the fire from directly entering the two story section of the fire building, and also prevented interior damage to the exposure.  Only the siding melted of the exposure, and most of the one story section of the real estate office was destroyed.

The Ocean County Fire Marshal’s office investigated the fire and determined it to be caused by an over-current in the electrical system from the downed power lines.

There were no injuries.

All are invited to our annual Craft Fair and Open House scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 14 at the main fire station 113 North New Prospect Road.  Past years have seen a large response for this event, please make sure you come early.  All vendor tables for the craft fair have been sold, which means that there will be plenty of quality items available just in time to start your holiday shopping.  Food and refreshments are also available on site.

In addition to the great craft fair event, the fire company will also be holding our annual open house.  Bring your family to learn about important fire safety facts and procedures to help prevent loss of life and property, as well as prevention of injury.  There will be fire apparatus and equipment on hand, and fire fighters to help answer your questions.  We hope to see you on Sunday, October 14.

One automatic fire sprinkler system activated in an apartment on Arcadia Court at 9:52 p.m. on Tuesday night, October 2, 2012 potentially stopping a larger, more costly fire.  Fire fighters from Stations 54, 55 and 57 were dispatched for a fire alarm at that address, and on arrival, found that the occupants in Building 11 had removed a flaming pizza box from an oven, which activated the sprinkler head.  The fire sprinkler put the fire out.  Although there was some water damage to the kitchen and carpet, the occupants were fortunate that the fire did not progress, and no injuries occurred.

Crews from Engine 5541, 5411, 5521 were on the scene handling the incident.  Engines 5511 and 5417 and Rescue 5503 stood by the event of other calls.  Chiefs Tim Carson 5500 and Bob Haskins 5400 were command officers.  Jackson Police and the Jackson First Aid Squad were also on the scene.

A fire originating in a kitchen exhaust ventilation shaft at Solo Bella Restaurant on Chandler Road in Jackson caused minor damage but no injuries just before 3 p.m. on Friday September 21, 2012.

At the onset of the incident, fire could be seen coming from the roof ventilation system.  Two kitchen employees climbed up on the roof with a fire extinguisher prior to the arrival of the fire department.  Fire fighters from Jackson Mills Station 54 and Jackson Fire Station 55 responded and opened up the roof ventilation system and crawled into an attic space above the main floor to check for any extension of the fire.  Fortunately only a light smoke condition and high heat existed, which was promptly vented out by fire fighters.

“Damage was limited to the kitchen ceiling area and roof ventilation fan ” stated incident commander Assistant Chief Mike Waters. “It was great seeing the restaurant back in business with a full dining room of customers only hours after the fire” continued Waters.

As is customary, the Ocean County Health Department responded to the scene and following a thorough clean up from the fire, declared the establishment safe for food preparation.

Location: Larsen Road Firehouse
113 North New Prospect Road, Jackson, NJ
Sunday, October 14
9 am – 3 pm

Once again, Station 55 is proud to host the annual craft fair, and open house on Sunday, October 14 at the main fire station on North New Prospect Road from 9 a.m. to 3p.m.  Unique handmade crafts and new merchandise vendors will be on-site displaying their items for sale. There will be something for everyone here, so come out for some shopping, food & fun!

Also, Station 55 will be holding our annual Open House the same day and hours.  This year we will be proudly showing off our newly renovated apparatus bays, which was made possible through a generous donation.  The ceiling, walls and floors all are sporting a fresh new look.  We are pleased to invite you to your local fire house for some fun, exhibits, demonstrations and fire safety education.

On a brilliant sunny but cool day, fire fighters from Jackson Stations 54, 55, 56 & 57 remembered all of the fire fighters, police officers, EMS workers, and civilians lost in the 9-11-01 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Shanksville locations today in the 11th commemoration of the tragedy.  Led by event chairman FF Ivon LaBoy, the reading of the names of the 343 FDNY brothers lost in the fire and collapse of the Twin Towers were accompanied by a solemn bell tolling once for each lost fire fighter.

Chairman LaBoy observed that we pause to reflect on the lost brothers and to also thank the members of the armed forces that fight for our country, and that ultimately hunted down the perpetrator and master mind, Osama Bin Laden.

Fire fighters were joined by members of the community, some that come every year, and others that stopped their cars briefly to pay their respects.

We should never forget these painful losses sustained by the United States of American, on our soil.

SUV lies on it's side with wires down

Stations 54 and 55 were dispatched to a motor vehicle crash at 3:10 p.m. on Saturday September 8 when Station 54 Deputy Chief Mike Lubertazzi found an overturned Toyota 4 Runner on Chandler Road at Winter Way with two occupants trapped inside.  Engine 5411 arrived within a minute from a special detail around the corner on Bartley Road, and stretched a safety 1 3/4″ hose line to protect the vehicle’s occupants and other emergency responders.  The Toyota vehicle had struck a pole and brought wires down, including a large phone cable line wrapped around the right wheel.  One of vehicle’s occupants self-extricated from the rear hatch; the other two had to be cut out of the vehicle by crews from Rescue 5503 and Engine 5541.  Crews also stabilized the vehicle with struts to keep the car from moving while rescue crews operated inside.  Due to the proximity of overhead power lines, crews began work when JCP&L de-energized the primary wires.  From that point, after cutting the door posts and roof, it only took a matter of minutes for fire crews to extricate the male driver first via backboard, then the female occupant that was trapped underneath the male.  FF Anthony Salas assisted by serving as a translator for the vehicle’s occupants.  A request for a MEDEVAC helicopter was not able to be filled due to inclement weather.  Quality EMS on scene transported the male and female to the trauma center at Jersey Shore Memorial Hospital.

Eleven minutes into the extrication call, Stations 55, 56 and 57 were dispatched to food on the stove call at an apartment at 100 Muirfield Road.  Responding crews including Chief Tim Carson 5500, Chief Scott Rauch 5700, Engine 5511 and Ladder 5705 found a hallway full of smoke but no fire and no injuries.

Automatic fire sprinkler systems are installed in order to immediately stop the spread of fire inside a building.  That’s exactly what happened at 12:22 p.m. on Wednesday August 29, 2012 at 301 Arcadia Court.  Fire fighters from Stations 54 and 55 were dispatched for a fire alarm at that address, and on arrival, found that the occupants had been cooking when a flash fire erupted.  The sprinkler system and two installed extinguisher pods inside the cook-top exhaust fan put the fire out.  Although there was some water damage to the kitchen and carpet, the occupants were fortunate that the fire did not progress, and no injuries occurred.

Crews from Engine 5511, 5407, 5707, Engine 5701 and A/C 5510 were on the job.  Jackson Police and Quality EMS were also on the scene.  Wally Jamison 18327 is handling the investigation.