Firefighters attack a large brush fire in a hilly part of
Tewksbury Township on April 6, 2015. (Rick Epstein | Hunterdon County Democrat)
APRIL 6, 2015
TEWKSBURY TWP., NEW JERSEY
Firefighters from three counties and the state Forest Fire
Service have been called to a heavily wooded area where a brush fire spread to
threaten homes.
Heavy smoke is blanketing the area, and what appears to be a
Forest Fire Service helicopter is helping attack the fire. Multiple fire
companies are on the ground.
Some firefighters are armed with shovels, rakes and a leaf
blower, clearing a line of flammable vegetation and thereby creating a
"control" or "fire" line.
At 4:50 p.m., a call went out for an Advanced Life Support
ambulance for a "firefighter down." The ambulance was being directed
to Bartles and Honeyman roads.
The fire is in a hilly area dotted with large homes on large
lots, east of the Hell Mountain Preserve and New Jersey Conservation Foundation
open space.
Only fire trucks carrying or capable of pumping water are
being allowed on Honeyman Road. A staging area for additional responders has
been set up at the Oldwick firehouse.
A brush fire was reported at 134 Rockaway Road shortly after
2:15 p.m. on April 6. A short time later it was reported on emergency radios
that the fire had spread to the deck of a home at 13 Honeyman, and a second
nearby house was being checked.
A bystander at the scene reported that resident Susan Osmun
saw the fire approaching her home and escaped with her family's pets.
The fire spread to a second home, belonging to Randy Floyd,
and a porch was burned, according to reports at the scene, but that fire has
been extinguished. Responders believe there are pets inside that home.
Water is being pumped on the fire by Lebanon Borough Fire
Company's ladder truck. Two all-terrain vehicles "with water pump
ability" are being requested at the command post at Oldwick. A fire
hydrant being used to fill some tankers has a limited water supply, and
responders were switching to Johnson Pond to refill, according to unconfirmed
radio reports.
One of the homes that was threatened was apparently dubbed
"Heaven on Hell" by its owners.
Following the initial report of the brush fire on Rockaway
Road, firefighters were directed a short time later to Honeyman Road.
The National Weather Service in a special weather statement
today warned of the "enhanced risk of wildfire spread this
afternoon."
The weather service said low relative humidity levels this
afternoon, combined with "a gusty southwest wind and dry fine fuels"
are creating the higher risk throughout the region.
According to the New Jersey State Forestry Service, an
"average of 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of New Jersey's
forests," and are becoming "an increasing threat to homeowners who
live within or adjacent to forest environments."
Source:www.nj.com