Crime & Safety

Another Day, Another Big Smoky Fire in the Woods

Fire crews from Lawrence Township teamed up with firefighters from nearly a dozen other municipalities to battle a forest fire in West Windsor Township, not far from the Lawrence Township border.

Crews from Lawrence Township’s Slackwood and Lawrenceville volunteer fire companies were among the more than 75 firefighters and support personnel from nearly a dozen municipalities who responded to a large fire in the woods behind the Windsor Ponds housing development in West Windsor Township on Sunday afternoon (April 15).

New Jersey Forest Fire Service officials estimated that the blaze – reported shortly before 3 p.m. – charred about four acres of leaves, brush and tree stumps between Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor railroad tracks and Windsor Ponds Road in the development off Village Road West, not far from the Lawrence Township border.

Train traffic along the railroad tracks was slowed while firefighters from at least 16 different agencies worked to extinguish the flames. One firefighter was treated at the scene for dehydration but no serious injuries were reported.

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The cause of the blaze was under investigation by authorities.

Sunday’s wildfire in West Windsor came a day after a and less than a week after another fire charred a wooded area near the same Amtrak railroad tracks behind the Lawrence Square Village development in Lawrence Township.

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According to the latest fire weather forecast from the National Weather Service’s regional office in Mount Holly, continued dry weather, low relative humidity and gusty winds will again lead to “enhanced” fire concerns today (Monday, April 16) and tomorrow.

Firefighters from the following agencies battled the blaze in West Windsor on Sunday:

  • West Windsor Emergency Services
  • West Windsor Fire Co.
  • Princeton Junction Fire Co.
  • East Windsor Fire Co. #1
  • East Windsor Fire Co. #2
  • Hightstown Fire Department
  • Robbinsville Fire Department
  • Plainsboro Fire Department
  • Slackwood Fire Co.
  • Lawrenceville Fire Co.
  • Mercerville Fire Co.
  • Hamilton Fire Co.
  • Pennington Borough Fire Co.
  • Hopewell Borough Fire Co.
  • Prospect Heights Fire Co.
  • New Jersey Forest Fire Service

Local emergency medical service units, the Signal 22 fire and police canteen unit from Trenton, West Windsor Township police and Amtrak police provided support during the fire.


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