By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
A thank you doesn’t come too often — not frequently enough, many speakers said — so when it happens, it should be done well.
More than 200 firefighters and emergency responders from all over central Jersey were thanked heartily Saturday night for their yeoman effort in fighting a massive industrial park fire in Hillsborough on Feb. 11-13.
The free dinner — with music, proclamations and plaudits — for members of fire companies, rescue squads and emergency management groups was held at the Manville VFW as a gesture of appreciation for rallying to Hillsborough’s aid in fighting a blaze at the Veterans Industrial Park on Route 206 in the northern part of the township. At least two buildings with about 500,000 total square feet were destroyed.
Derek Basista, of Manville, who is CEO and president of Charity Events Group, organized the event. He was recognized by assemblymen Jack Ciattarelli and Andrew Zwicker with a joint legislative resolution thanking him.
That touched him, he said Monday.
“When presented with that, it was a moment I’ll never forget in my lifetime,” he said.
He was also very grateful for the sleeve patch given to him by the Neshanic Fire Company, he said.
There was be a band and the mayors of Hillsborough, Manville and Millstone are expected to attend, as well as the 16th District’s state legislative delegation.
Hillsborough Mayor Frank DelCore gave the longest remarks.
“This evening I am proud to say I stand in a roomful of heroes,” he said. Heroism was on full display during the fire, as men and women fought bone-chilling cold and a biting wind, as well as the fire, to serve and protect their community.
Crews worked round the clock to contain the fire to just two of five warehouse buildings, he said. He said it “was nothing like I had ever experienced” and knew it wreaked havoc on bodies and equipment.
“Thank you for your extraordinary efforts,” he said. “We thank you more than you can ever know. Thank you for aiding our community when we needed it most.”
The mayor said it was “quite surreal” to see the fire shown on TV news happening in his hometown.
A total of 94 companies from six counties rallied to fight the fire, showing that “duty has no local boundaries when help is needed,” he said.
He praised residents for rallying to give all kinds of food and materials to the fire companies, but told the story of one woman who insisted on seeing him on the Friday of the fire.
The woman complained of a tickle in her throat, and demanded what he was going to do about the fire.
He said he assured her fire companies were doing everything they could, but she pressed, seeking to know why it hadn’t been put out yet.
He asked her if she had seen extent the television, and she replied that she didn’t watch the news.
Exasperated, Mayor DelCore told her to go home, watch TV and she would learn when the fire was out.
“So, while I would like to tell you that 100 percent of the people supported your efforts, it was probably more like 99.9 percent,” he said.
Manville Mayor Richard Onderko said his borough may be one of the smallest in the population and area, “but Manville has some of the best fire and rescue volunteers in Somerset County,” he said.
The Manville VFW donated the hall and cooked the meal, as well as donating much of the food, Mr. Basista told the Hillsborough Board of Fire Commissioners in March.
U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance followed Mayor DelCore, and the congressman noted that a table of Elizabeth Avenue (Franklin Township) firefighters had received a tone call and promptly got up and left, leaving their plates empty unfilled on the table.
“It goes to show that you are on call all of the time,” said Rep. Lance.
Mr. Lance also noted the work of Mr. DelCore in pushing the federal government to remove mercury stored for decades at the federal depot. The last of the mercury was moved in 2010, officials have said.
Certificates were given to each of the companies who helped fight the blaze. A special resolution was given to Don Scher, the husband of the late Doris Flatley, Hillsborough first female firefighter, who died March 17 at the age of 83. Obviously touched, Mr. Scher could only choke out a thank you and was answered with standing applause.
Mr. Basista invested some of the money himself, and more came from donations to the website www.gofundme.com/hillsboroughfire. At the end of the dinner, it meant that a $1,578 check was presented to the N.J. Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial planned for Allaire State Park in Farmingdale, and a similar amount to the Sons of the Flag organization, which aids burn victims. Woods Road Fire Chief Mike Murphy accepted that check, on behalf of his son, who works with the group.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has yet to release its final report on what caused the fire. It did not appear to be deliberately set, said federal agents in March. Preliminary investigation pinpointed the source in a “high-rack storage area” of one of the two major destroyed buildings.
Hillsborough Chief Fire Marshal Christopher Weniger said he was working through all the paperwork and working toward a goal of federal reimbursement for fire-fighting expenses so that the end result would be no cost to the township. The property is owned by the federal government and leased as a warehouse and trailer park to individual companies.
About 37 fire companies sent representatives to the dinner, said Mr. Basista on Monday. Many of the companies, Mr. Weniger said in March, helped with tanker trucks that shuttled more than 2.5 million gallons of water to fight the fire.
