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Two-alarm blaze erupts in row of Trenton homes
by Michael Ratcliffe/The Times, http://www.nj.com
Tuesday November 18, 2008, 8:39 AM
TRENTON -- Less than 24 hours after a serious fire damaged homes on Cortland Street, a two-alarm blaze struck a row of houses on nearby Dickinson Street early Tuesday morning.
Firefighters who arrived on the scene at the corner of Dickinson and Webster streets shortly before 2:10 a.m. Tuesday were confronted by "heavy fire conditions" inside the center home.
Although the blaze was brought under control in about 45 minutes, firefighters remained on the scene for several hours dousing hot spots amid the ruins and investigating the cause of the blaze.
More information on the Dickinson Street fire will be posted when available.
Monday's blaze on Cortland Street was reported a little before 3:25 a.m. A mother and her four children, as well as four or five people living in a home next door, were all displaced after the fire started in a room on the second floor of the woman's home.
Fire officials suspect an electrical fault started the Cortland Street blaze.
Space heater blamed for sparking two-alarm Trenton fire
by Michael Ratcliffe/The Times http://www.nj.com
Tuesday November 18, 2008, 10:48 PM
TRENTON -- A space heater sparked the two-alarm blaze early Tuesday morning that gutted a Dickinson Street home and left a woman and her two sons homeless, fire department officials said.
It was the second serious fire in East Trenton in less than 24 hours.
Battalion Chief John Gribbin said the blaze started in a bedroom on the second floor of a 2-1/2-story home located in the middle of a row of three attached houses. He said investigators believe a space heater somehow ignited bedding materials and other combustibles.
Homeowner Shirley Harvey, 63, was awake on the first floor when she smelled smoke, Gribbin said. She went upstairs to investigate and, finding fire in the bedroom, quickly roused her two sons, ages 36 and 42, he said.
After fleeing outside with his mother and brother, one of Harvey's sons ran about two blocks to the firehouse of Engine 6 on North Clinton Avenue and pounded on the front door.
About the same time -- 2:07 a.m. -- the city's 911 communications center received a call about the fire and dispatched a full first-alarm, Gribbin said. Finding the second floor of Harvey's home engulfed in fire, with flames threatening to spread to the houses on either side, Gribbin called a second alarm for additional firefighters just minutes after he arrived on scene.
Firefighting efforts were hampered when the main electrical service wire running to Harvey's home burned through and fell across the front porch. Still energized with power, the wire prevented crews from approaching and forced firefighters to reposition their hoses and other equipment to fight the flames from the rear of the row of houses, Gribbin said.
Eventually, PSE&G workers were able to shut off power to the downed wire, he said, noting that crews from Engines 6, 10, 7, 1, 3 and 8, Ladders 4 and 1, and Rescue 1 managed to bring the blaze under control by 2:52 a.m.
Harvey's second floor was gutted by the fire and the rest of her home badly damaged by heat, smoke and water. She and her sons have been relocated to a hotel by the Red Cross, Gribbin said.
Thanks to a combination of the firefighters' efforts and the presence of brick fire walls that extended through the attics of the homes, the fire did not spread to the other two houses in the row, Gribbin said. But both those homes were damaged by smoke and water – one so severely that its resident was forced to go to his daughter's home for the night, he said.
Trenton EMS ambulance crews stood by on scene but there were no injuries reported, Gribbin said.
The Dickinson Street blaze came less than 24 hours after another fire, believed to have been started by an electrical fault, damaged a house on Cortland Street. A woman and her four children were displaced by that blaze, which was reported just before 3:25 a.m. Monday.
Fire leaves 4 homeless
By JACK KNARR
Staff Writer
The Trentonian, http://www.trentonian.com
TRENTON — A roaring two-alarm fire destroyed the middle house of a cluster of three on Dickinson Street early yesterday morning, leaving four people homeless.
The blaze was believed to have been sparked at 50 Dickinson by a malfunctioning space heater, according to Battalion Chief John Gribbin. That three-story house was gutted from the second floor through the roof, but firefighters saved adjoining homes at 48 and 52, which sustained smoke and water damage.
Longtime resident Shirley Harvey, 63, was cooking in her kitchen at No. 50 at 2:07 a.m. when she smelled smoke coming from upstairs, Chief Gribbin said. She hurried upstairs and found bedding on fire near the malfunctioning space heater in the front bedroom.
“Her sons were asleep,” Gribbin said, “but she got them out.”
The family was relocated to other quarters by the American Red Cross. The elderly occupant at No. 52, James McKay, went to stay with his daughter.
Firefighters needed six engines, two ladders, a rescue company and three battalion chiefs.
“A resident on the block was first to report the fire, knocking on the door at Engine Co. 6 on North Clinton Avenue,” Gribbin said. “Then we got a 911 call.
“When we arrived, an electrical power line had fallen down on the front porches, blocking our way into No. 50 and No. 52. So we went around and attacked the fire from the back. Our people did a great job saving the two adjoining houses.”
