Three Blazes Keep Lawrence Firefighters Busy

Last Friday (July 6) proved to be a busy day for Lawrence Township firefighters, as they were called out to battle three separate blazes.

The first – and most significant – of the fires took place shortly after 6 a.m. at the Chauncey Conference Center on property off Rosedale Road.

Going to investigate why the fire alarm system had been set off in a wing of the building that is in the process of being renovated, ETS security personnel discovered smoke and flames coming from a wall in a first-floor hallway, according to township fire officials.

Security officials used a dry chemical extinguisher to douse some of the fire before crews from Lawrence Township’s three volunteer fire companies – Lawrenceville, Lawrence Road and Slackwood – arrived.

Firefighters quickly realized the flames had extended into the void separating the first floor from the second, officials said.

With additional manpower needed to open the wall and ceiling to attack the blaze and halt its spread, Assistant Chief Dave Burns of Lawrenceville Fire Co. sounded a second alarm that brought firefighters from Pennington, Hopewell, Ewing and Hamilton to the scene.

Officials said the blaze was declared under control after about a half-hour and damage was contained to the area of the hallway where it had started. There were no injuries reported.

While an electrical problem was the suspected cause, the blaze remains under investigation by the township police department, township fire marshal’s office and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, officials said.

A previous fire badly damaged the Chauncey Conference Center and seriously injured a Lawrence Township volunteer firefighter on April 18, 1993.

At 7:25 a.m.  Friday, as some township firefighters were clearing the scene of the fire at ETS, there were redirected to Toftrees Court, off Van Kirk Road, for a reported brush fire next to a residence.

A column of smoke was visible from a distance as firefighters responded, officials said, but they arrived to find that it was only a pile of old wooden pallets burning in the driveway of the property.

The blaze was quickly extinguished, with no damage to the adjacent home. The cause remained under investigation, officials said.

And late Friday afternoon, Lawrence Township firefighters responded to the shoulder of northbound Interstate 95, just north of the Exit 7 (Route 206) interchange, to fight a blaze involving a pickup truck.

Officials said the blaze was started when the operator of the truck tossed a lit cigarette out his window while driving and the cigarette was blown into the truck’s bed, where it ignited a pile of brush, wood, old tires and other debris.

Realizing the back of his truck was ablaze, the driver pulled to the side of the road and jumped out, officials said.

Flames quickly extended to the interior of the pickup, but were extinguished before they could spread to the enclosed landscaping trailer that the pickup had been towing, officials said.