On Thursday January 26, 2012 at 4:28pm Franklin Township Fire District Three was dispatched to a report of a working structure fire at 168 Minetta Road. Chief Krushinski (27-A) was first to arrive on scene and confirmed a working fire in a two and a half story residential structure and requested a second alarm. Chief Krushinski conducted a 360 degree size up and reported there was heavy fire pushing from the second story windows. Engine 25-3 was the first due Engine Company followed in by Ladder 25, Engine 27-8 was the second due Engine Company and dropped a supply line to Engine 25-3. With the assistance of the Franklin Township Fire Prevention Department, the crew of Engine 25-3 was able to stretch a hand line up to the fire floor. The crew of Engine 27-8 pulled a second handline off Engine 25-3. Command quickly assigned Accountability to Lieutenant Reinbeck (27-E3) and requested that Chief Lipman (26-A) assist the Lieutenant. The crew from Rescue 56 under the supervision of Chief Panchery (56-A) were assigned to be the Rapid Intervention Team. The crew from Ladder 26 set up multiple ground ladders on the "C" and "D" sides of the building.   In addition Deputy Chief Fredricks (26-B) also assisted with Accountability and Safety. The fire was quickly brought under control, by the responding companies from District 3 and our mutual aid companies. Thank you to all the mutual aid companies that responded and covered the District. At this time the fire remains under investigation by the Franklin Township Fire Prevention Department.
Units on scene: Car 27, Car 27B, Car 27C, Engine 278, Engine 272, Squad 27, Air 27, Utility 27, Car 275, Car 25C, Engine 253, Ladder 25,Engine 251, Engine 561, Rescue 56, Car 26, Car 26B, Ladder 26, and New Brunswick Engine 5.
 

On Friday, January 20th, the Friday night duty attended the firefighter graduation at the Somerset County Fire Academy.  Conner Ferretti graduated from the academy's firefighter 1 class.  Conner will be assigned to the engine company.  Congratulations to Conner on his hard work and dedication throughout fire school.
 

On January 14th, we held our annual I.O.D at the Ria Mar in South River with 140 guests, friends, and firefighters on hand at the affair. This year’s event kicked off with the annual slide show of the year in review, followed by dinner and awards. Master of Ceremony was George Wade. The following  members received recognition for their outstanding service to the company:

Kevin Apuzzio Award: Deputy Chief Tom Cicerale
Vince Sidotti Award: Jack Ritterson
Lou Agg Spirit of Volunteerism:  Lieutenant Joe Inzirillo
Firefighter of the Year: Lieutenant Mike Reinbeck
Junior Firefighter of the Year: Conner Ferretti
Probie Firefighter of the Year: Victor Garach

A Unit Citation went to Firefighters Craig Miller, Mike Reinbeck, Jack Gramlich, & Bryan Krach for delivering a baby boy on December 13, 2011 clearing up from a house fire in New Brunswick.
This year Chief Dan Krushinski is in his 12th  year as Chief.
The New President for 2012 is Joe Inzirillo.

Dr. Apuzzio swore in the new officers of the Department which has become a tradition over the past years, and we thank him. The event went off without a hitch. We thank everyone for their continued support and dedication throughout the year and welcome the new fire officers.

On Friday, December 23rd members of Station 27 responded into the City of Elizabeth to assist the Union County Mutual Aid at the eight alarm fire that had been burning since Wednesday afternoon. Crews arrived at 6 PM and took the hydrant in the front of the large building replacing Elizabeth Fire Dept. Engine #5 and went to work using two blitz fires, a two and a half with a smooth bore nozzle and one 1 ¾ hand line with a smooth bore nozzle. The first crew of six men, and Chief Krushinski stayed until the second crew under the direction of Asst. Chief Banks arrived at midnight and they continued to operate until 7 AM on the B side of the building. While some debt you can’t ever get a chance to repay – we felt it was the least we could do to help our brothers from Elizabeth Fire who were able to help us in 2006 when we lost FF Apuzzio to a LODD, so we volunteered to go. While the names of the men we may never know, or probably see again it was the BROTHERHOOD that showed, the handshakes of these guys happy to see fresh bodies ready to work. While we still owe them if they need help again, it just makes us happy that we were able to help them days before the Christmas holiday. The first crew consisted of Jack Ritterson, Capt. Cicerale, Ted Ritterson, Luke Conklin, Chris Sorrentino, Hector Malave and Chief Krushinski. The second crew, led by Asst. Chief Banks, was AW Latanzio, Lt. Reinbeck, Nick Recine, Mark Russo, and Jim Skinner.

New Brunswick fire requested Station 27 into the City again today for a 3 alarm fire on Somerset Street.  Squad 27 responded with a crew of 3 directly to the scene to help with the fire attack and drop a supply line to NBFD Engine 2. An additional crew of three men responded in Utility 27to the scene to assist the crew from Squad 27. Car 27 was requested to the scene to help assist NBFD since there were three dwellings involved.  The fire was reported at 3:48 p.m. Friday, at 270 Somerset St., and spread to 268 and 272 Somerset St. The roof and second floor of 268 and the rear of 270 were destroyed, but no injuries were reported.


Good job by everyone involved in fighting the blaze.  Station 27 crews cleared the scene at around 2015hrs. 

While packing hose after a 3rd alarm fire in New Brunswick, the men of Station 27 were confronted with yet another challenge. A man approached Engine 8 claiming his wife was in labor in the back seat of his car. He couldn't get to the hospital due to road closures with the fire. Firefighters Jack Gramlich, Bryan Karch, Craig Miller and Mike Reinbeck sprang to action, utilizing medical supplies from Squad 27 and their knowledge as EMT's. The crew successfully delivered a baby boy at 3:00 AM on the corner of Bartlett St. and Guilden St. in the City of New Brunswick. This is yet another example of how the firefighters of Station 27 use their diverse skills and training in the most stressful of emergencies. The mother and child were transported to Saint Peter's University Hospital without incident, and Station 27 cleared from the scene shortly after. A job well done by all members on scene.

Station 27 was requested mutual aid into the City of NewBrunswick for a 2 alarm fire at 204 Easton Ave. New Brunswick was dispatched to the reported working structure fire, andquickly after arrival a second alarm was hit by command.  Squad 27 with a crew of 5 responded directlyto the scene. Squad 27 dropped a supply line to New Brunswick Engine 1 and thecrew went to work assisting New Brunswick Fire in searching exposures.  Crews worked early into the morning and werereleased by command around 0330.

The Department held it's annual fire elections for 2012 and the line up for 2012 is as follows:


Chief – Dan Krushinski
Deputy Chief – Tom Cicerale
Asst. Chief – Chris Banks
Squad Capt. – Kevin Loichle
Engine Capt. – Robert Mattei
1st Lt – Brandon Shannon
2nd Lt – Joe Inzirillo
3rd Lt. – Mike Reinbeck
Engineers – Jack Ritterson & Mark Russo
Foreman – Craig Miller, Jack Gramlich, Luke Conklin, Ted Ritterson, Pete Archibald & Chris Boyette


Congratulations to everyone and we are looking forward to another safe and productive year!

At 23:09 Fire District #3 was dispatched to 765 Somerset Street for a reported structure fire with possible entrapment. Car 27 arrived on scene and reported a kitchen fire on the second floor of the taxpayer building. Car 25 arrived on scene and used 2 extinguishers to knock down some of the fire. Once on scene, Engine 253 pulled a line and with the crew of Eng 272, knocked down the remaining fire on the cabinets and stove top. Once the fire was knocked down, units checked for extension and ventilated the building. The fire apartment was turned over to Franklin Twp Fire Prevention for investigation and units cleared in about a hour. Units on scene from 27 were Car 27 A,B &C   Squad 27 Engine 272 Air-27   Station 25 were Car 25 A,B,C Engine 251 & 253

This past month, six members have been sworn in. Chris Davitt and Hector Malave have been assigned to the Squad Company. Neil Verano, Sean OHara and Arnaldo Azcona are all probabtionary members. Also sworn in this month is returning member, Jamie Skinner.