Ewing Township’s three volunteer fire companies, aided by a crew from Lawrence Township’s Lawrence Road Volunteer Fire Co., battled a blaze in a vacant apartment building at 1576 Sixth St., near North Olden Avenue, early today, Tuesday, Jan. 29.

Ewing Township police and firefighters, who were alerted about 12:10 a.m., said they arrived on the scene to find much of the two-story dwelling ablaze. Multiple hoselines were quickly put to work.

Adding to the dangerous situation was the fact that one of the overhead electrical wires still connected to the building burned through and fell into the street. The area around the fallen wire was cordoned off with caution tape until PSE&G personnel were able to turn the power off.

Ewing firefighters brought the blaze under control within a half-hour. The cause of the fire is under investigation by Ewing Township police and fire officials and Mercer County Fire Marshal George Lenhardt.

Ironically, the house at 1576 Sixth St. was previously damaged by fire on Feb. 14, 2006, records show.

During the firefighting effort, Lawrence Road volunteers served as the rapid intervention team – a crew of firefighters whose job it is to stand ready to rescue other firefighters should they become trapped or otherwise injured in the burning building.

Today’s blaze was at least the fourth significant fire fought by Ewing Township firefighters, with help from Lawrence Township fire companies, in little more than a week.

During the early morning of Jan. 20 a multi-alarm blaze destroyed a house on Clamer Road. During the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 25 a two-alarm fire raged at the Mercer Wrecking facility on Calhoun Street. And during the evening of Jan. 27 flames damaged a home on Concord Circle.