Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Hunter Drive house was destroyed after fire spread through attic.
Michelle Davis and her family have lived in their house on Hunter Drive in Madison for 23 years and, with the help of a friend who is a carpenter, they focused on a different remodeling project each year. Bathrooms and the kitchen were updated, hardwood floors were put down and new windows were installed. This year they realized they finally had everything the way they wanted it. On Tuesday evening, a fire that started near a metal chimney spread through the attic left the home a "total loss," Davis said Wednesday. "We'll rebuild, we'll do it over, and everybody got out safe," she said. Fire consumed part of the house, smoke and water damaged other parts, and sections of walls and ceilings had to be ripped out so firefighters could access …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Three people and four dogs escape fire Tuesday evening.
A fire that started near a metal chimney spread into the attic of a house on Hunter Drive on Tuesday afternoon and left the home uninhabitable, Madison's fire chief said. A woman who lives in the home said she smelled smoke and got out of the house with her four dogs, while her mother and sister, who also were home at the time, also got out safely. The fire was reported around 4:38 pm. and was under control in about 50 minutes, Madison Fire Chief Lou DeRosa said. There was a fire going in a first-floor fireplace at the time. The DeRosa said it's unknown what exactly started the blaze. DeRosa said firefighters ripped through ceiling to access the attic space. The residents were planning to stay with family or friends in the area, he said. A…
Firefighters James Blair and Troy Pehowic, police officer James Cavezza, and resident Robert Potter were honored at Monday's Borough Council meeting.
Police officers, firefighters and families packed Council Chambers of Hartley Dodge Memorial on Monday night to recognize two firefighters, a police officer and a resident who were involved in two fire rescues in Madison over the past month. Madison firefighters James Blair and Troy Pehowic received the Mayor's Award—given for heroic effort on behalf of the residents of Madison—for entering a burning multi-family home on Park Avenue and bringing a woman and her dog to safety. Madison Police Officer James Cavezza was given the Mayor's Award for starting a series of phone calls that ultimately led him to find out someone was on the second floor of the building. The woman, 20-year-old Shannon Cadogan, was present at the ceremony and was given…
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
By the time Shannon Cadogan knew she had to get out of her burning house, there was so much smoke she couldn't see the front door.
Shannon Cadogan says it's unreal to think what would have happened if she didn't pick up her phone, or if the calls were off by a minute or two. The 20-year-old Madison High School grad was sleeping Saturday morning in the second-floor apartment she shares with her mother on Park Avenue as the building was starting to burn. Her mom was at work at the time. She missed a call from her uncle, John Grant, around 9:30 a.m. He called again and she picked up the second time. "Where are you?" he asked "I'm at home. Why?" Grant had just received a call from a Madison police officer he's friendly with saying the house was on fire. Grant told his niece the house was on fire and she had to get out. She smelled smoke and saw the fire department. She …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
YouTube video shows inferno in two-story building on Park Avenue on Saturday after a woman and her dog were rescued from it.
Video of the four-alarm fire that burned through a multi-family home at Park Avenue and Loveland Street on Saturday morning shows the entire front of the building engulfed in flames as the siding catches fire and, later, shooting from the roof. The video, titled "Madison, NJ 4th Alarm Fire 11-17-12," was uploaded to YouTube in two parts. The first part shows the inferno minutes after firefighters rescued a woman and her dog from the second floor. Thick smoke billows out of the home, as firefighters douse it with water. The second video shows firefighter continuing to battle the blaze as the roof catches fire. The fire was reported after 9 a.m. and the floors and part of the roof collapsed around 11 a.m.
Investigators to begin accessing the basement of home destroyed in Saturday morning fire.
Investigators on Tuesday are expected to begin the process of accessing the basement of a multi-family home on Park Avenue that was destroyed by a fire on Saturday to determine the cause. First, water needs to be pumped from the basement. Then, investigators need to figure out how to safely work their way to the section of the basement where the fire is believed to have started. This is complicated by the fact that part of the first floor of the home home collapsed into the basement, Fire Chief Lou DeRosa said Monday. The cause of the fire has not been determined and is under investigation, DeRosa said. Rachel Chiarolanzio Fleming, the daughter of the building's landlord, David Chiarolanzio, said St. Vincent Martyr Church will accept gift …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Firefighters extinguished blaze in basement after blast took out second-floor window Monday.
Two occupants in a Crestwood Drive home climbed down a ladder from a second-floor window after an explosion occurred in the home Monday morning, Madison's fire chief said. The explosion filled the home with smoke and left it uninhabitable, Madison Fire Chief Lou DeRosa said. An exotic bird in the house also survived the explosion and was removed from the home. The cause of the explosion, which blasted out a second-floor window and was called in around 8:45 a.m., is under investigation, he said. It does not appear to be suspicious, he said. DeRosa said an explosion occurred at the same address during Tropical Storm Irene. Firefighters forced through the locked front door and ran a hose to the basement to extinguish a fire there, Fire Chief …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Third-floor Pine Acres residents were relocated around 1 a.m. Thursday.
Thick, black smoke filled a third-floor rehabilitation room at Pine Acres Nursing Home on Madison Avenue in Madison shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, and residents on the floor were moved to an area behind a fire door while firefighters identified the source, Madison's fire chief said. Using a thermal imaging camera, firefighters traced the source of the smoke to a malfunctioning auxiliary battery pack fixed under the tabletop of a cart used for computers, Fire Chief Lou DeRosa said. About six residents, mainly in beds and wheelchairs, were moved to the safe area while fire departments from Florham Park, Chatham, Morris Township, Morristown and Cedar Knolls were called to assist in case officials decided to evacuate the 102-bed building, …
Monday, September 24, 2012
Fundraising efforts will aim to keep Ahrens Fox Model P-4 donated by Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in the borough.
A top-of-the-line fire truck donated by Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge to Madison in 1921 was welcomed to the borough with great fanfare on May 14 of that year. A parade attended by more than 10,000 people, visiting mayors and 15 visiting fire chiefs celebrated the arrival of the truck, and Dodge—whose father helped found Standard Oil and whose husband was president of the Remington Arms Company—joined the mayors and chiefs in the parade reviewing stand. As of Friday, the truck is back in Madison and a group of Madison firefighters, officials and residents are hoping to find ways to raise enough money to keep it here. The deluxe truck, one of only nine Ahrens Fox Model P-4 fire trucks ever made and believed to be one of only two remaining, …
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Amelia Court homes cleared out while firefighters checked air readings.
About eight Amelia Court residents were evacuated by the Madison Fire Department on Friday afternoon after a contractor resurfacing the roads and driveways of the housing development struck a gas line outside their home. Marilyn Carracino was visiting her parents to have lunch when the incident occurred around noon. She said it was a bit of a scare, but they were back in their home after about 15 minutes once the air readings checked out fine. George McLaren, senior distribution supervisor for PSE&G, said the utility company responded to fix the leak.
Walter C.
4:44 am on Monday, December 3, 2012
It's a shame what happened to the Davis's. I've know them all for a few years and they are such generous and giving people. I'm sure it's tough to see your home and possessions destroyed by the fire, water and smoke but the house doesn't look like a total loss to me. I'm glad we have career firemen around the clOck though because god only knows what this could have been if not for such a speedy … more ›