Pennsville Fire & Rescue Co. # 1

Vacant Dentist Office Fire

July 22nd, 2009

On Tuesday - July 21, 2009 at approximately 1:00am Pennsville Fire and Rescue Company No. 1, Deepwater Fire Department, Carneys Point Fire and Rescue, Reliance Fire Department and Holloway Terrace Fire Department (Delaware Mutual Aid) was dispatched to 255 North Broadway for a reported building fire. Upon arrival the building was found to be working with fire auto-venting through the roof on the A/B corner. Deepwater Fire Department utlized their aerial tower to begin roof venting operations while Pennsville Fire Department; assisted by additional manpower on scene, began venting the windows on the A side and performing forceable entry into the building on the B & C sides. During interior operations the Incident Commander deemed the conditions too intense and ordered an evacuation of the building to allow for aerial master streams to knock down the bulk fire in the roof area. Once this was completed, interior overhaul operations began to ensure that all remaining fire zones have been successfully mitigated. During operations Pennsville Fire & Rescue deployed their rehab/air cascade trailer for support operations of the firefighters working on the fireground.

Today’s Sunbeam reports on 7/22/09; “Detectives have yet to find what caused the fire but believe it was an arson.”