Almost two months after a massive warehouse fire raged for four days in North Brunswick, questions continue to arise over first-responders’ exposure to unsafe conditions.
More than 100 personnel covered by North Brunswick’s insurance fund have undergone medical screenings after being on scene at 1600 Livingston Ave. in July.
As of Sept. 4, 126 workers compensation claims had been filed through the Garden State Municipal Joint Insurance Fund as a mechanism to allow health screenings for first responders and township officials who spent extended periods of time as the million-square-foot building burned from around 1:30 a.m. July 22 through July 26, with small pocket fires continuing throughout the following days.
The breakdown as of press time was 19 public safety, four community development, 19 public works, one emergency management, 24 Fire Co. 1, 25 Fire Co. 2, 32 Fire Co. 3 and two rescue squad claims, according to a document prepared by the township. Although firefighters and rescue squad members are volunteers, they are covered by the township’s insurance.
The insurance fund set up the process of a medical screening, Business Administrator Robert Lombard said, which included an interview with a nurse case manager and then possible referral for a pulmonary exam to check breathing function and conduct chest X-rays.
“Some people got pretty throaty,” Lombard said of first responders. “Some people on the scene for days and days got pretty affected by the smoke.”
“Most of what we’re experiencing is because of our concerns of the amount of time spent by people and that the amount of exposures at the fire scene could cause some issues,” Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack said. Although every firefighter who was on the backside of the warehouse, which was downwind of the fire, was outfitted in proper firefighting gear, Lombard said, police officers, Department of Publics Work employees and township administrators who were on scene — some for 20-hour shifts at a time — were not wearing anything to protect them.
“I don’t think we had them,” Lombard said of masks for each first responder. “We need personal protective gear on hand. … I think we need to have them in stock and deploy them and not have someone ask for it. It’s definitely something we have to address post-[fire].”
Throughout the fire, Lombard said township officials consulted with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on air quality levels.
Neil Norrell, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA, said air monitoring instruments checked levels of chemicals — such as hydrogen cyanide, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, chlorine and explosive gas concentration — as well as particulates, which are components of smoke that are combusted as the fire burns.
“We didn’t see any high readings that caused any concern” in terms of chemicals, Norrell had said, but added the thick black smoke caused “very heavy” particulate concentrations.
“As the fire was put out, there was less and less smoke generated, and you see the numbers go lower and lower and lower. The lower the numbers, the less the threat,” he said.
Lombard did acknowledge that particulate levels were tested across Route 130 in the area of Maple Meade, Myrtle Road, Wood Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue, but that they were deemed by environmental officials to not be harmful.
“Some evenings we were close to considering evacuating more people because the particulate levels were starting to reach levels of concern. Fortunately, the levels didn’t stay at that level to require [additional] evacuations,” Lombard said.
However, any long-term damage will not be known for months or years.
“From all of the evaluations we’re gonna know in time if anyone had adverse effects as a result of this,” Womack said.
The results of the preliminary screenings will not be available due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protection.
Besides respiratory issues, another concern is the large amount of equipment and gear lost by each of the three volunteer fire companies.
Lombard said that all gear was sent out to be cleaned, which is normal procedure, but he is “not sure if it is uniquely contaminated or from multiple exposures.”
Large equipment such as hoses and ladders take months to purchase and order, so North Brunswick is relying on mutual aid from New Brunswick, East Brunswick and Franklin in the meantime, he said.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].