Engine 10-2 and Rescue 10-3 were dispatched at 19:27 hours for a car into the Mayfair Motel on the Blackhorse Pike with multiple injuries.  A mini van had completely breached through the front wall of the motel and into a room occupied by an elderly handicapped women.  Company Fire Chief John Comstock was first to arrive from the fire department and assessed the situation.  Manpower was needed to safely remove the elderly handicapped woman from the room.  Firefighters took additional measures to temporarily place columns back that had been knocked out by the van.  The township construction official was notified and fire fighters assisted EMS with patient care.  Engine 1022, Utility 1027, and Rescue 1038 were in service for about an hour.

Photos can be seen @ NewJerseyFire.Com : http://newjerseyfire.smugmug.com/gallery/8657963_82cyQ#571550425_uAGzA

    A full district box was dispatched for the DECON unit within WTFD to respond the Pureland Industrial Park in support to the County CBRNE (HAZMAT) Team at 10:30 AM Monday morning.  A rail car containing 27,000 gallons of highly flammable Ethanol was leaking on a rail spur at Pureland.  Two days earlier, railcars carrying the same product in Illinois derailed and exploded and killed at least one and severely injured several others.  The railcars in Illinois burned for two days.  WTFD mustered 9 firefighters to respond with Utilities 1027, 1017 and DECON 10.  Two of the members, Capt. Dolgos and FF Donnelly were assigned to CBRNE entry teams.  DECON was set up for a full decontamination if product had splashed on any members however only 9 simple boot washes were necessary during the assignment.  The DECON Group also briefly assisted the FOAM Group in Divison C.  DECON 10 was in service for 8 hours.

The WTFD was dispatched to a motor vehicle crash with a car into the TD Bank on Hurffville-Crosskeys Road at Ganttown at 12:14 PM.  Engine 1011, Rescue 1038 and Ladder 1026 were on the assignment.  Upon FD arrival, some smoke smell was discovered and determined to have been from the tires on the vehicle spinning on the floor of the bank.  The car had penetrated all the way to the teller counter.  One minor injury was handled by WT EMS, but there were numerous patrons at the bank that had been shaken by the incident.  The fire department cleared by 1:00 PM

Photos can be seen @ NewJerseyFire.Com : http://newjerseyfire.smugmug.com/gallery/8652535_DbwYP#571085138_RuvLq

On Thursday June 11,2009 members from the Whitman Square Fire Company as well as members from the Twp Police Department Gathered in the Whitman Square Section of town to welcome back National Guard Captain Ken Whipkey. Ken was honored by Mayor Matt Lyons for everything that he had done for our Country while he was deployed. From the WTFD Thank You to all the members of the Military and special forces for all that you do to protect are country.

Late Tuesday afternoon Station 29-1 was dispatch for a report of a working fire in a garage. The Gloucester County Fire board advised 29-102 that the home owner stated that his car had exploded and that his house was on fire. Upon arrival  he found heavy fire showing from division A in garage extending into the attic area and order Engine 2913 to lead off with a 2 1/2 inch handline and advise the Fire board to fill the box bringing in station 10-2 for the R.I.C. Engine 1022,Utility 1027 and Rescue 1038 responded with a total of 13 members. Once on location1038 acted as the R.I.C while crews from 1022 and 1027 opened up the dwelling and applied a layer of foam to the garage area due to a gasoline leak which was preventing the fire from being extinguished. Crew were in service for a little over 3 hours before returning to the Township. 29-102 had command . Pictures by www.NewJerseyFire.Com can be viewed here www.newjerseyfire.smugmug.com/gallery/8502160_KrEKT#559626883_XyezL

The Hurffville Volunteer Fire Company will be having it's annual Bar-B-Q at the fire station at Theis and Altair Drives (next to Thomas Jefferson School). The date is June 27th.

Come join us for some good food and visit the new station.

On May 3, 2009, Bob Webb was awarded the St. Florian Medal of Mercy by the Gloucester County Fire Chief’s Association during the Feast of St. Florian held at Christ Church in Woodbury.  The St. Florian Medal of Mercy is awarded to a fire fighter for merciful work performed outside of the line of duty.  Bob Webb has long been a reverent servant through the First Presbyterian Church of Pitman traveling and working for Habitat for Humanity and doing volunteer work for AARP.

Bob was the first ever recipient of the County Fire Chief’s St. Florian Medal of Mercy Award.  The St. Florian Medal of Mercy Award was created to recognize fire fighters who perform merciful work in reverence not necessarily in the line of duty.  Through his membership with the First Presbyterian Church of Pitman, Bob has done work for more than 2 decades for Habitat for Humanity including travel to South America.  He has also dedicated an enormous amount of volunteer time through AARP performing tax returns for the elderly and the poor.  The award recognizes Bob for his merciful work in the spirit of St. Florian, the Patron Saint of Fire Fighters.

Pictured below in photograph 1 is Washington Township retired Fire Fighter Bob Webb (center) flanked by his wife Virginia (left) and Chief John Hoffman (right).

Pictured below in photograph 2 is retired Fire Fighter Bob Webb (center), flanked by Father Brian Burgess (left) of Christ Church in Woodbury, and Chief John Hoffman (right).  John Hoffman is Washington Township's District Fire Chief and is also the President of the Gloucester County Fire Chief’s Association.

The Members of the Washington Township Fire Department would like to say thank you and wish the best of luck to one of it's own as Lieutenant Anthony D'Amico of the Whitman Square Fire Company leaves for a one year tour to the Middle East with the U.S Marines as he defends our Country. The department and company can't thank Anthony enough for everything he has done over the last year and a half as a line officer as well as his past five years of dedicated service with the department. Stay Safe and you will be in our prayers.

At 19:45hrs on Thursday Night Station 10-2 was dispatched into Williamstown, in the area of 1757 Glassboro rd, for a working building fire. Command was on scene with a 150x75 Mix use building with smoke showing. Crews from Station 29-1 made an aggressive interior attack  when the fire found a void in the ceiling. Command advised the county that they were going into defensive mode with two ladder pipes and multiple handlines. Engine 1022 and Utility 1027 responded to form two R.I.C crews. When the Third alarm was struck, it brought Engine 1032 to the scene. 1032's crew were placed into service as an exterior attack line. Crews from both companies were in service for alittle over six (6) hours while they tried to bring the fire under control. You can check out pictures from Ken Van Pelt & Dave Hoffman here  www.NewJerseyFire.Com (Ken)

Along with: www.NewJerseyFire.Com (Dave)

On March 19, 2009, the Washington Township Council held a special meeting with the Washington Township Board of Fire Commissioners to review the proposed 2009 Fire District Budget defeated in February's annual Fire District Election.  The council and the board reviewed the proposed budget and agreed on $131,798.00 in reductions.  These reductions did not have a negative impact on fire protection for the residents of Washington Township.  The reductions amounted to a reduction in the overall fire district tax rate to 19.4 cents of $100.00 of assessed property valuation.  Please click on the link to view the 2009 Washington Township Fire District Budget in its' entirety.