UPPER FREEHOLD: Firefighters battle two house fires

Plumsted fire truck crashes en route to mutual aid call

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   UPPER FREEHOLD — Firefighters from the Hope Fire Company and surrounding communities were kept busy last week with two separate accidental house fires that occurred two days apart on Rues Road and Route 539.
   There were no injuries, but a New Egypt Fire Company tanker truck responding to the Sept. 9 mutual aid call in Upper Freehold was “totaled” when it struck a dirt embankment and flipped onto its side, said Plumsted Deputy Fire Chief Steve Morgan.
   The accident occurred at 8 a.m. near Highbridge and Moorehouse roads in the New Egypt section of Plumsted Township.
   The driver, firefighter Kevin Panacek, 26, of Columbus, and a woman walking in the area, were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital-Hamilton where they were treated for minor injuries and released, according to Sgt. Robert Pintye of the Plumsted Township police.
   The pedestrian, Jill Black, of New Egypt, was injured as she tried to get out of the truck’s path, Sgt. Pintye said. Ms. Black was not struck by the firetruck, he said.
   ”The driver took the turn a little too fast,” Sgt. Pintye said. “When the truck turned over and started to slide the woman was hit with debris.”
   Sgt. Pintye said Tuesday he would be issuing Mr. Panacek a summons for careless driving.
   Kevin Stout, a deputy Monmouth County fire marshal, said the Sept. 9 fire at 201 Route 539 in Upper Freehold was caused by a lightning strike the night prior and was called in by a passing motorist. The blaze was confined to the attic of the unoccupied two-and-a-half story wood structure and was knocked out by firefighters before it caused significant damage to the home.
   Two days prior, firefighters from the Hope Fire Co., Millstone Township, Groveville, and Jackson responded to another house fire at 33 Rues Road that started in a kitchen electrical outlet, Mr. Stout said.
   ”It was a substantial fire that burned right up to the roof,” Mr. Stout said. The owner of the single-story ranch home was not home at the time, but her two German shepherds inside were rescued by firefighters.
   Millstone firefighters, under the direction of Lt. Alan South, and Hope Fire Company, under the direction of firefighter George Luck, arrived to find the house fully involved. The house sustained major damage and is currently uninhabitable until repairs are made, Mr. Stout said.
   The Sept. 7 fire, which occurred at 2:41 p.m., also forced the closing of Rues Road for hour and a half.
   ”The road is only a lane and half wide so it had to be closed,” Mr. Stout said.
   Schools Superintendent Dick Fitzpatrick said the road closing occurred just as the school day was ending, which meant bus-riders who live on Rues Road were almost two hours late getting home from their first day of school.
   ”I ended up riding Bus 5 home with the children and I spoke to every parent because it was a late bus,” Dr. Fitzpatrick told the school board later that night.
   ”I was really concerned about a bus going anywhere near a fire,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said. “So I decided if I rode the bus I could explain the reason we were late to the parents and also be there in case we ended up in a situation where we needed to make some alternate plan.”
   Dr. Fitzpatrick estimated the Rues Road children eventually arrived home about 5:45 p.m.