Toms River Fire Department Responds to Fire at County Garage
By Phil Stilton
Toms River–The Toms River Police & Fire Departments responded to a 7:55 a.m. generator fire at 152 Chestnut Street, at the Ocean County vehicle maintenance garage. Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said there was an electrical fire associated with a generator, located in an attached structure outside of the main building.
The first responder on scene was a Toms River police officer who was able to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher.
Upon the arrival of the fire department, it had been determined that the fire had also spread to the space between the finished ceiling of the main garage and the metal roof.
Toms River Fire District 1 Chief John Lightbody said, “The fire had spread to the roof system and an approximately eight foot by eight foot hole had to be cut into the metal roof with saws to gain access to the rafters. While that was being done, inside the roof had to be wet down from below to cool it off.”
Firefighters on scene pulled down all of the sheet rock inside the generator shed and the finished ceiling inside the garage to put out the fire.
Responding units from Toms River Fire District 1 & 2 included Silverton, East Dover and Pleasant Plains Volunteer Fire Companies.
Fire stations from Beachwood and Manitou Park (Manchester) provided coverage in Toms River during the fire. Station 21 acting Chief Ed Storino coordinated the effort on the ground.
The fire was was knocked down by 8:34 a.m.