Early Christmas Morning, Station 51 was dispatched to Spotwood Borough as per the box alarms to 250 Cresant Avenue for a fire alarm activation. As Spotwood units began to arrive, Spotswood PD reported a heavy smoke condition on the second floor with a possible fire in an apartment. Spotswood fire units arrived on location and confirmed that there was a kitchen fire within one of the units and called for Rescue 51-4 (A/O V. DiLieto) to join Ladder 51-1 (2nd LT A. Zdrodowski) to the location.

Ladder 51 arrived on location and recieved order from D/C Andrews to make way to the 2nd floor and began ventilation and overhaul of the unit in question. Crews, with tools, met up with 2nd LT Drako and went to work. Rescue 51-4 crew arrived on location was assisted in the evacuation of many residents as their was still a heavy smoke condition on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building. Ventilation was completed of the entire structure within 2 hours and all 51 units cleared up to return home just in time to open presents. Thanks to all first responders on this holiday! Merry Christmas.

On the morning of December 12, 2011, Monroe Volunteer Fire Company #1, along with Stations 23 and 57, were dispatched to 29 Drake Avenue for an oven fire. Monroe Township PD arrived on location and notified dispatch of a working structure fire. Withing 2 minutes Squad 51-2 (A/O P. Ivins) went in service to the location with a crew of 3 and arrived  to find a single-story residential with fire showing from the CD corner. Seconds after, Chief 51 (L. Pipero) arrived on location and assumed command. The Squad crew pulled a 200ft, 2 inch CAFS line to the door and made entry. Minutes after Engine 23-5 arrived on location and secured a water supply to Squad 51-2. Simultaneously, Ladder 51-1 (2nd LT A. Zdrodowski) arrived on location and was ordered by command to pull a back up line and suppress the fire.

The main body of fire in the kitchen was knocked down, but the fire had progressed into the main attic space and was well involved. More units arrived on location soon-thereafter with Engine 23-15 providing vertical ventilation and 23-5 to perform a search of the residence. During the search, Station 23 personnel had discovered a victim; the search team, along with the back up line crew, removed the victim and began providing EMS. The victim was transported by Monroe EMS but was pronounce at the hospital.

The fire was placed under control in approximately 30-40 minutes with the house being a total lose. The fire is currently under investigation by the Monroe Township Police Department and the Monroe Township District #1 Fire Prevention Bureau.

Monroe Twp. Fire District 1 would like to thank for all the hard work of the mutual aid companies for this fire and all of 2011: East Brunswick Dist. 1, Jamesburg FD, and Spotswood FD.

Early Sunday morning, temperatures still below 50 degrees, members of the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company traveled to the banks of the Delaware River for Swift Water Rescue Tech class taught by ERT Consultants, LLC. Seventeen members successfully passed the class but left with more than just a certfication. All members were pushed to their limits to enter fast moving water, jumping in for the rescue, and rigging up systems. All in all, MTVFC1 is stronger not only with the certification and confidence to push through tough situations, like Hurricane Irene, but also built stronger team relationships and support systems for each other to succeed. Nice Job Station 51!

Shortly after midnight, on September 10th, Station 51 along with Station 23 and Station 57, were dispatched to 3 Matano Drive for a possible structure fire. Deputy 51 (A. Costa) arrived on location first to find a two-story residential building with heavy fire showing on side 'D' of an attached garage with possible extention to the second floor attic space. Chief 51 assumed command upon arrival and called for a 2nd Alarm, bringing an engine from South Old Bridge and an engine from Spotswood Borough.

Squad 51 (Capt. F. Steinhauser) arrived on location and pulled a 2 1/2 inch CAFS line to the garage and began suppression. A second line (LT. A. Hayes) was pulled the exterior of the garage to protect the members from an exposed full propane tank, who's valve had let go. Once the main body of fire was knocked down in the garage, the initial attack line made way onto the second floor, with help from 23 and 57 units pulling ceilings, the attack line was able to extinguish the fire that had extended into division two.

All units on location assisted in overhaul of the garage and divison two to hit hot spots within the house. After overhaul the scene was turned over to Monroe PD and Fire District #1 Fire Prevention Bureau to determine the cause of the fire, which is still under investigation.

Thanks to all mutual aid companies for their swift response and coverage assignments; East Brunswick E702, Jamesburg FD, Spotswood FD, and South Old Bridge Fire Company.

Other units on location: Engine 51-3 (LT A. Hayes), Rescue 51-4 (FF C. Hoffman), Ladder 23-8, Engine 23-5, Tower 57-1.

With howling winds and torrential down pours over the night and into the day of August 28th, Hurricane Irene gave the residents and members of MTVFC1 a rough go. Anticipating the worst, Station 51 held an in-house standby of two crews to man Squad 51-2 and Ladder 51-1, as well as a first responder vehicle.

The crews initially ran calls of down power lines and trees down but as the night grew longer, the calls grew worse. Flood waters were rising and from midnight through 7pm Sunday, the volunteers of Station 51 responded non-stop to various calls. From trees into houses to flooding and even to mudslides; District 1 had their hands full. Working together with other municipalities and state run agencies, an estimated 100+ people were rescued by District 1 and their mutual aid friends over the course of 24 hours.

As the day grew to a close with the in-house standby continuing their stay, rest was still #2 on their minds. All members should be proud of what they accomplished and the perseverance they showed over 36+ hours continuous dispatches.

District 1 would like to thank the members of all mutual aid companies that assisted in the successful rescue of the residents of Monroe Township. Station 51 would also like to thank the men and women of Monroe Township who have come together to help the strangers in need who have been affected by the flooding.

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, Station 51 went mutual at the request of Station 23B for a working passenger bus fire. Command (LT Daley) reported a NJ Transit bus fully involved. Station 23B called for a full first alarm which brought Station 57 and Station 51 (which was being covered in house by EB Engine-706). E706 (Capt. A. Drozdowski) went in service immediately with a full crew, followed by Engine 51 (2nd LT A. Zdrodowski) also with a full crew. Upon arrival both units supplemented interior crews on the bus and switched out manpower as needed. After about 2 hours all units cleared up with the bus being a total loss. No one was injured at this incident.

Station 51 would like to congratulate its newest graduates of Firefighter I.

Firefighters J. Pieron, S. Purohit, and K. Stigner graduated from Middlesex County Fire Academy and P. McCabe, M. Vollaro from Monmouth County Fire Academy. Station 51 is proud to add them to the ranks as certified interior firefighters.

Firefighter I is a state certified 150-hour course held at county academies that teaches the basics of interior firefighting, incident command structure, hazardous materials, extrication, search and rescue and ladder truck operations. All NJ state firefighters must pass this course as well the NJ state firefighters exam.

Good Luck to the newest firefighters as they continue their careers' at Monroe Township Fire District #1.

The Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company #1 welcomed its newest piece of apparatus on Tuesday, May 3rd. Purchased last year, the new brush truck was built to our custom specifications by Lee's Apparatus of Tuckerton, New Jersey.

The new brush truck will go by the designation of Brush 51-9.

On Monday, November 29th at 11:13PM, all three Monroe fire districts were dispatched for a possible structure fire at 49 Harrigan Avenue. In minutes, Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company #1 had Squad 51-2 (Capt. F. Steinhauser) and Ladder 51-1 (LT A. Hayes) arrived on location. The initial size-up from Capt. Steinhauser reported heavy smoke pushing from the eaves on all sides of the house with heavy fire showing from the rear. Chief 51 (L. Pipero) arrived seconds after and assumed command assigning the Squad to pull a 2 inch CAFS line to the front door and secure the water source in front of the house. The Ladder crew set up the aerial to the peak of the roof for vertical ventilation; while also calling for a second alarm to the scene bringing Spotswood 71 for RIC (rapid-intervention crew) as well as South Old Bridge Fire Company for manpower.

The interior crew (Capt. Steinhauser, FF R. Murphy, & FF R. Siemon) began suppression of the fire as the ladder crew (2nd LT A. Zdrodowski & FF A. Perez) began cutting the roof to relieve the heat and smoke condition inside the house. As more units arrived, Station 23 stretched a back up line to protect the egress of the members inside pumped from Ladder 51. Station 57 arrived to secure a secondary water source and formed a man power pool with Spotswood & South OB Fire. The house sustained heavy damage and had a partial roof collapse on the “C-side.” Units remained on location till approximately 3:30am after all overhaul and mop-up was completed.
 
With a quick response from Station 51 and good coordination between the roof team and interior attack team, suppression proved to be successful and prevented further spread of the fire. All stations should be proud of their work ethic and effort in this situation. As this year has shown; neither heat nor cold can hold back the fire departments of Monroe Township.
 
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Monroe Township District #1 Bureau of Fire Prevention and Township Police.

On October 21st at approximately 19:05 hours the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Co was dispatched to 5 Norwood Ave for a report of a grill fire. Upon arrival Safety 51 (R. Hayes) advised that a propane tank had ruptured causing flames to shoot out from the failed safety mechanism. Squad 51 (Capt. F. Steinhauser) arrived and deployed a 1.75" line to cool the tank. Station 51 units decided that the best course of action would be to cool the tank until it ran out of gas. This operation took about 20 minutes. Other units on location were directed to the surrounding residences to evacuate in case of a BLEVE. The cause of this fire is still under investigation by the Monroe Township Fire Prevention Bureau Dist. 1.

Other Units on Location: Ladder 51(A/O V. Dilieto), Engine 51 (A/O M. Agolia), Rescue 51 (2nd Lt. A. Zdrodowski), Central Monroe 23-5, Central Monroe 23-8, Applegarth 57-1

On Friday, September 24th, members from the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company #1 participated in the Brothers Helping Brothers annual golf outing. It was a gorgeous fall day with tons of fresh air for all the golfers. Participants were treated to a fantastic dinner and tons of giveaways and door prizes. Trophies were given to players with the lowest score, closest to the pin, longest drive, and the coveted: High Game; which was won this year by 51's own 2nd Lieutenant Andrew Zdrodowski and Captain Francis Steinhauser. Our thanks go to all the volunteers and players for making this years event even better than the last.

To learn more about Brothers Helping Brothers on upcoming events or how to make a donation please visit their website at:

www.brothershelpingbrothers.net/

On the coldest nights of the summer, a chilly 65 degrees, August 23rd and 24th; the members of Station 51 completed a water rescue course run by ERT Consultants, LLC. The final night of training was done in a hands-on practical at Eagle River Day Camp where members learned how to properly approach victims, how to enter/exit water, how to properly defend against aggressive victims and how to use tools to our advantage in assisting a victim. It was a great learning experience and provided all members with the qualifications and confidence in response of water rescue situations.

 

At 8:23am of August 8th, Station 51 was dispatched to 16 South Rhoda Street for a reported attic fire. Minutes after the initial tones, Squad 51 (Capt. F. Steinhauser) and Ladder 51 (2nd LT. A. Zdrodowski) called in service and arrived on-location. Chief 51 (L. Pipero) reported a heavy smoke condition in the attic with possible extension. Both crews dropped man power and went to work immediately. Squad 51 pulled a dry line to attic and began assessing the situation. Ladder 51’s crew quickly set up the ladder to the peak of the roof where smoke was pushing to prepare ventilation, if needed. As the remaining units arrived on location, 23-8 laddered the adjacent section of the structure and 23-5 arrived and began pulling ceilings. Rescue 51-4 arrived and provided assistance to both crews inside and provided positive-pressure-ventilation (PPV) at the front door to mitigate the small amount of lingering smoke and abundance of CO created.

All in all, every responder performed very well and confined the fire to its origin, suppressed by a water can from Squad 51’s crew.

Spotswood Engine 74 responded and operated as the Rapid Intervention Crew

On a sunny August 7th, 2010; Station 51 held their annual Recruitment Day Block Party. It was a wonderful day for everyone that attended, including the members of the firehouse. Children of all ages learned about fire prevention, our fire trucks, what to do in case of an emergency and even a little fun inside the moon-bounce and dunk a fire fighter. All those in attendance enjoyed food and snacks while cooling down with some Italian ices. The highlight of the day was an extrication drill performed by select members of the fire company to show exactly what we do when using the “jaws-of-life.”

The day was a complete success with recruiting seven new members into our fire company.

At 1:15am on July 29th, Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched to Main Street in Spotswood for a working structure fire. Ladder-51 (Capt. F. Steinhauser) and Rescue-51 (2nd Lieutenant A. Zdrodowski) arrived minutes after dispatch and went immediately to work. Ladder-51 quickly deployed the aerial “stick” to the bravo side and began ventilation to the roof and punched out boarded up windows.  

Rescue-51 acted as the Rapid Intervention Crew (RIC) and jumped into action when two members went down with injuries while conducting ventilation. After ladder operator (G. Cure) nosed the ladder to the ground and had the RIC remove the firefighter and placed him onto the stretcher for rapid transport to the hospital by Spotswood EMS. The other firefighter was checked out at the scene and RMA’ed. After all bottles were filled and ladder was packed up- both units cleared the scene and returned to station by dawn.

All injured firefighter’s have made full recoveries and are back to duty.