FIREFIGHTER CLOSE CALLS
July 1, 1988-Remembering Hackensack Ford & The Firefighters Killed (The Secret List)
July 1, 2021
All,
7/1/1988 the Hackensack Ford fire killed 5 firefighters from the Hackensack (NJ) Fire Department when portions of the wood bowstring truss roof at an automobile dealership suddenly collapsed at approximately 3:00 p.m. after 20 minutes of firefighting efforts.
Tactics were shifted to a defensive posture, before crews could exit from the interior a sudden partial collapse of the truss roof occurred, trapping six firefighters; one trapped firefighter was able to escape.
The first units arriving observed a “heavy smoke condition” at the roof area of the building. “The fire, which began as a seemingly minor fire in a cockloft between the ceiling and roof of the one-story building, later erupted into an inferno that shot flames 30 feet into the air over the boiling crater of the collapsed roof. Other firefighters were atop the garage area of the burning building cutting through the roof with power saws, apparently to get at the flames in the loft. As they did so, a witness said, part of the roof caved in and the firefighters retreated down ladders and were uninjured.”
“The five firefighters, all veterans of the Hackensack Fire Department, were in a garage at the rear of the sprawling building, shooting water from hoses at the burning ceiling, when a huge section of the roof fell on them with a roar about 3:15 p.m. Minutes later, a series of explosions erupted inside the garage, apparently as the flaming debris ignited the gasoline tanks of cars being repaired at the dealership, Hackensack Ford, on a bend in the Hackensack River five miles west of the George Washington Bridge.
PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO:
Captain Richard Williams
Engine Company 304
Lieutenant Richard Reinhagen
Engine Company 302
Fireman Steven Ennis
Rescue Company 308
Fireman William Kresja
Engine Company 301
Fireman Leonard Radumski
Engine Company 302
Rest In Peace.
Take Care. Be Careful. Pass It On.
BillyG
The Secret List 7-1-2021-0605 hours
www.firefighterclosecalls.com
