Fire/Rescue News - Water no friend to Ventnor Fire Department in this blaze
By MARTIN DeANGELIS and DAN GOOD Staff Writers | Posted: Friday, October 16, 2009 | 1 comment
VENTNOR - Water is usually one of a firefighter's best friends, but water turned on the city Fire Department on Friday.
Firefighters had to fight as much as 3 feet of flooding on Edgewater Avenue in Ventnor Heights before they could take on a fire reported in a bayfront home on the street shortly after 8 a.m., fire Chief Bert Sabo said....Continue Reading
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The fire did an estimated $200,000 to $250,000 worth of damage to the home, and the high tides that flooded the street may have damaged the trucks sent to the fire, the chief said.
"The fire engines are running rough because of going through the water," Sabo said, so city mechanics tried later Friday to undo any damage to the emergency vehicles.
Water on the street was almost waist-high for firefighters, "So as soon as you stepped out of the truck, the water went right into your boots," Sabo said. "I was concerned about guys falling into the water."
Still, nobody was hurt in the incident, and investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire, the chief said later Friday. The Fire Department got the call just after 8 a.m. - the time shifts change in the city's two firehouses - so most of the firefighters going off duty could be called back to the Edgewater Avenue fire.
But it was hard to get there.
"Our major problem was that the water was 2½ to 3 feet deep, so whenever a vehicle drove by, waves splashed down," Sabo said. "My vehicle stalled as I neared the scene."
The nearby Dorset Avenue Bridge was closed by the flooding, as was West End Avenue, the main road linking Ventnor Heights to Atlantic City's Chelsea Heights neighborhood and then the mainland. Some firefighters trying to get to Ventnor from the mainland were stopped by police at the Black Horse Pike, Sabo added, because it also was shut down by the morning's high tide.
Contact Martin DeAngelis:
609-272-7237
Contact Dan Good:
609-272-7218
Posted in Breaking, Atlantic on Friday, October 16, 2009 8:40 am Updated: 11:44 pm.