By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — A brush fire that eventually torched 25 acres on the old Wyeth property off Clarksville Road on Monday apparently began after workers wielding acetylene torches accidentally ignited the blaze, fire officials said.
The workers had been using the torches to dismantle several Quonset huts on the property, but overgrown, dry brush that is common on the disused, 653-acre property soon caught fire.
With the help of a brisk wind the fire soon spread out of the control and the workers called for assistance at around 2:45 p.m. Monday, according to Dave Terzian, the assistant chief of the Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Company.
Fire units from several neighboring departments came to assist in fighting the blaze, which caused emergency workers to close off a section of Clarksville Road stretching from Quakerbridge Road to Meadow Road in the township.
The blaze was extinguished around 4 p.m., after firefighters finished putting out the smoldering vegetation and hot spots within the burned area of the property, around 18,000 square feet, according to fire personnel.
”We didn’t have any difficulty with this fire,” Mr. Terzian said.
Several of the workers were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene after being evaluated by emergency personnel, fire officials said.
Mr. Terzian said the fire coincided with the beginning of brush fire season, which usually stretches through the summer months, especially with extended periods of very dry weather.
”We tend to get a lot of spot fires, usually from discarded matches or cigarette butts,” Mr. Terzian said.
Besides the West Windsor units, fire personnel from Princeton, Plainsboro, Cranbury, Monroe, Hamilton, Hopewell, and Lawrence responded to the fire call.
Fire officials characterized the incident as accidental, and not due to any worker carelessness.
The Quonset huts at the Wyeth site had been used to house livestock, although the huts themselves are a familiar sight all over the country, after many of the approximately 150,000 manufactured during World War II were sold off to civilians.
