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Newark Authorities Investigate Equipment Stolen From Fire Truck During Five-Alarm Blaze
Victoria St. Martin/The Star-Ledger
Newark blaze destroys 1 house, damages 6 others
NEWARK — As authorities continue to investigate the cause of a five-alarm blaze in Newark, investigators are searching also for equipment that disappeared from a fire truck, as well as a fire hydrant that was missing from its spot on the street, officials said today.
Fire department spokesman John Brown said the department’s rescue squad filed a police report Wednesday for two radios and tools that went missing sometime during the raging blaze, which damaged seven homes on South 20th and Ferdinand streets in the city’s West Ward.
The Wednesday afternoon fire took two hours to get under control, destroyed three buildings and sent 20 firefighters to the hospital for heat exhaustion and minor injuries, Brown said. One firefighter remained in University Hospital for observation today, said David Giordano, the city’s fire director.
The rescue squad noticed handheld radios, a hydrant wrench and a Halligan tool, which firefighters use to pry open doors and floors, were not on the fire truck shortly after the blaze was under control, Brown said. In addition to missing equipment, Brown said a fire hydrant was missing from the corner of South 20th Street and 13th Avenue, just a block from the blaze.
"A hole is where it used to be," he said.
Victoria St. Martin/The Star-Ledger
Newark blaze destroys 1 house, damages 6 others
NEWARK — As authorities continue to investigate the cause of a five-alarm blaze in Newark, investigators are searching also for equipment that disappeared from a fire truck, as well as a fire hydrant that was missing from its spot on the street, officials said today.
Fire department spokesman John Brown said the department’s rescue squad filed a police report Wednesday for two radios and tools that went missing sometime during the raging blaze, which damaged seven homes on South 20th and Ferdinand streets in the city’s West Ward.
The Wednesday afternoon fire took two hours to get under control, destroyed three buildings and sent 20 firefighters to the hospital for heat exhaustion and minor injuries, Brown said. One firefighter remained in University Hospital for observation today, said David Giordano, the city’s fire director.
The rescue squad noticed handheld radios, a hydrant wrench and a Halligan tool, which firefighters use to pry open doors and floors, were not on the fire truck shortly after the blaze was under control, Brown said. In addition to missing equipment, Brown said a fire hydrant was missing from the corner of South 20th Street and 13th Avenue, just a block from the blaze.
"A hole is where it used to be," he said.
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