Burn Awareness Week – How You Can Help After A Snowstorm – Fire Hits Home

By Chief Michael Hapstak, Woodbridge Fire Co. #1 – Woodbridge Fire Department

Burn Awareness Week

The week of February 3^rd is Burn Awareness week and this year’s theme is Contact Burns – Hot Surfaces Damage Skin. Contact burns occur when hot objects are touched – known as thermal burns, but burns can also occur or from exposure to very cold temperatures or contact with something cold for a prolonged period of time (frostbite). Other types of burns are caused by friction (carpet burn), chemical (from acids or solvents) and electrical burns (contact with electrical current). Over 70,000 people went to hospital emergency rooms in 2018 for contact burns, with 1/3 of those under the age of 5.

Burn Safety at Home – Many ordinary things in a home — from bath water to hot food to electrical outlets — can cause burns. To prevent burns, follow these burn safety tips:

• Reduce water temperature. Set the thermostat on your water heater to below 120 °F. Always test the water temperature before your child gets in the tub. Aim for bath water around 100 °F.
• Avoid hot spills. Keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter edges. Don’t use tablecloths or placemats, which young children can pull down. When using the stove, use back burners and turn the handles of your pots and pans toward the rear of the stove.
• Use dry oven mitts or potholders. Hot cookware can heat moisture in a potholder or oven mitt, resulting in a scald burn.
• Establish “no” zones. Block access to the stove and fireplace, and make space heaters and water heaters inaccessible. Have a “kid free zone” of at least 3 ft around the stove.
• Unplug irons. Store items designed to get hot, such as clothes irons, unplugged and out of reach.
• Test food temperature. Food or liquids warmed in a microwave might heat unevenly.
• Choose a cool-water humidifier or vaporizer. If you use a hot-steam vaporizer, keep it out of reach.
• Address outlets and electrical cords. Cover unused electrical outlets with safety caps. Inserting a fork, key, or other metal object into an outlet could result in an electrical burn. Replace damaged, brittle, or frayed electrical cords.

General first aid for burns and scalds: Treat a burn right away by putting it in cool water. Cool the burn for three to five minutes. Cover burn with a clean, dry cloth. Do not apply creams, ointments, sprays or other home remedies. Remove all clothing, diapers, jewelry and metal from the burned area. These can hide underlying burns and retain heat, which can increase skin damage. Get medical help if needed.

How you can help after a snowstorm

Your local Fire Department depends on hydrants as source of water if there is a fire. When there is a large amount of snow, hydrants can become blocked, or the amount of snow can make it difficult to access. In the event of a fire, critical life and property saving time will be spent digging out the hydrant. If you have a hydrant near your home, please ensure the hydrant and a 3 foot area around it is clear down to the sidewalk or grass, there is a path to the hydrant and that it is free of any ice. You’ll be helping yourself, your neighbors and us in the event of an emergency.

Fire Hits Home

A fire can strike at any time and happen to anyone, and it hits home when it happens to one of our own. A fire broke out in the home of former Avenel Fire Chief Jimmy Karlbon in the early morning hours of January 19. Jimmy and his family were asleep when a fire started in the kitchen. His 6-year-old daughter Madalyn was awakened by the smoke alarms just after 2 am and ran to her Dad when she saw smoke. Jimmy got his family out safely and the family cat escaped on its own and was reunited with them later. No one was injured. Madalyn saved the lives of her family by remembering what she had been taught during Fire Prevention Week and the knowledge that her Dad and her extended firefighting family instilled in her, according to the Avenel Fire Department.

Woodbridge Police Officer Jim Ganci, a former volunteer firefighter with the Woodbridge Fire Department, was one of the first responders on scene. Using his firefighting experience, Officer Ganci took action to knock the fire down with an extinguisher.  The efforts of the Avenel Fire Department contained the fire to the kitchen/dining room area but smoke damaged the entire home leaving it uninhabitable, and the family has lost most of their belongings.

If you would like to make a monetary donation to help the family with purchasing groceries, clothes and essential everyday items, checks can be made payable to The Avenel Fire Company Community Fund, 346 Avenel St., Avenel, NJ 07001 Checks and donations can be dropped off at the firehouse Monday-Friday between the hours of 8-4 or mailed in.

For additional information on fire prevention and fire safety check out www.woodbridgefireprevention.org and www.nfpa.org/Public-Education

PLANE CRASH IN COLONIA

By Robert Hubner, Director Woodbridge Police Department

On October 29, 2019 at 10:58 AM, the Woodbridge Police Department’s Communication Center began receiving multiple reports of a plane crashing into homes on Berkley Ave. in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township. Immediately upon receiving the reports, which now included several homes engulfed in flames, the Woodbridge Police Department’s dispatchers began deciphering the information and relaying accurate information to the police officer assigned to dispatch officers to the scene.

As the dispatch center began to become overwhelmed with calls, the dispatchers and the officers in the Communications Center began contacting fire, first-aid, Hazmat, utility companies, and a host of other agencies that needed to be notified. Once officers were on scene, in addition to making sure everyone was being evacuated from surrounding homes and attempting to determine whether anyone was home in any of the three homes engulfed in flames, they set up a perimeter and began preserving the scene of the crash for investigators.

Colonia Fire Department was on scene quickly and began putting water on the fire. Mutual Aid was called, which included every fire department in Woodbridge Township along with Fire Departments from Carteret, Rahway, Sayreville, Metuchen, South Amboy, and Piscataway, the Woodbridge Township Office of Emergency Management, Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management, and the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management. Woodbridge and Avenel/Colonia First Aid and Robert Wood Johnson Hospital Paramedics also responded.
I along with other command staff personnel arrived on the scene within a short period of time to find what initially appeared to be a chaotic scene, only to find that the multitude of emergency personnel on scene were functioning in an extremely organized and efficient manner. As we approached the Command Center, which was set up in the area of the fire, we were introduced by Deputy Police Director Joseph Nisky, who works closely with our first-aid squads and is the WPD liaison to the Township fire districts to the Colonia Fireman Michael Pirozzoli, the Incident Commander who had the responsibility of keeping track of who was on scene and assigning duties to manage the scene. We were impressed with how calm and organized he was as he was getting bombarded with information and questions. As I stood back with Chief Law Enforcement Officer Scott Kuzma and surveyed the scene, we were both taken aback on the efficiency in which the crash scene was being handled by all emergency personnel. Within a short period of time WPD Officers confirmed that all the homes were unoccupied and that there were no injuries on the ground. The plane, flight plan and pilot were identified and it was confirmed that the pilot was the only occupant of the aircraft. Investigators were in contact with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board who were responding to take over the investigation.

On November 5, we received a letter from the National Transportation Safety Board stating: “When we arrive at the scene of airplane accidents, they often can be chaotic and unorganized, but your team had already brought what was chaos to order, which allowed our investigation to hit the ground running.”

I would like to join the NTSB in commending all the emergency personnel from the dispatchers and officers in police headquarters, to all the first responders on scene and in the background who showed true professionalism and dedication on October 29 and whose actions prevented further tragedy and property loss.

Woodbridge Police Department Encourages Safe Trick-or-Treating during Haunted Halloween

Woodbridge Township Halloween Curfew in Place for Wed., Oct. 30 & Thurs., Oct. 31

 Woodbridge Township – Woodbridge Township is under the spell of “Haunted Halloween” with special Township-wide “Spooktacular” events in celebration of the annual recognition of “All Hollows Eve.”  As Halloween has grown in popularity, so have responsibilities to safeguard and protect our ‘Trick-or-Treaters’ as they go from house-to-house and to the special holiday events sponsored by the Township Department of Recreation, schools and community groups.

The Woodbridge Police Department (WPD) will enforce a special Halloween curfew on the evenings of Wed., Oct. 30 (Mischief Night) and Thurs., Oct. 31 (Halloween).  While scary fun is great, special safety reminders and precautions will be in place to keep Township “Trick-or-Treaters” out of harm’s way.  The curfew is in place from 7:00 PM to sunrise on Wed., Oct. 30 and Thurs., Oct. 31 and applies to everyone under the age of 18 (unless accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult).  Police will issue a warning and instructions to return home to first-time violators; second offense violators will be held until picked-up by a parent or guardian.

While the Woodbridge Police Department (WPD) will be watching out for our ‘Ghosts & Goblins’ as part of special Halloween patrols and the Health Department is available to provide information on healthy treats, the safety of our youngest ‘Trick-or-Treaters’ falls to parents and older children.  We encourage everyone – young and old alike – to think ‘safety first’ as they attend the many Halloween events and as youngsters take to the streets for ‘Trick-or-Treating’ on Halloween.

The WPD also issued important Halloween safety precautions:

• Make sure Trick-or-Treaters know to only approach familiar houses that have outside lights on – that is the signal that the homeowner/resident is ready to greet Trick-or-Treaters.  NEVER ENTER A STRANGER’S HOUSE OR VEHICLE;
• Consider using make-up rather than masks. Masks obstruct vision, making it difficult to see oncoming traffic;
• Wear light-colored clothing or add reflective tape to darker costumes;
• Always carry a flashlight or an inexpensive battery-operated strobe light;
• An adult should always accompany small children while Trick-or-Treating.  Older children should travel in groups for safety;
• Trick-or-Treat in daylight hours;
• Consider handing out something other than candy – fast food coupons, sports cards and other novelty items make for safe treats;
• Trick-or-Treaters should return home before opening candy and other treats – previously opened candy should be discarded.