Members of the department have been out on hydrant marker detail the last few days. Members have been placing orange markers on all of the borough’s hydrants. With the winter season quickly arriving, the BVFD asks all residents to keep the fire hydrants clear of snow. It makes our job a lot quicker if we need to use them for a fire. If you see that a hydrant marker is off, please call your local firehouse and it will be picked up.

At the December fire officer’s meeting, probationary firefighter Christopher Naylis of Prospect Fire Co. No. 1, was elevated to active status. Chris was a member of the Junior Fire Department for two years prior to turning 18 and successfully completed his six months’ probationary period. He joins his parent’s, Jerry and Nancy, as active members of the department.

This week, members of the Bergenfield Fire Department continued their training of NIMS (National Incident Management System) that provides a uniform incident management procedure that all responders – federal, state and local, can use to effectively respond to all types of large scale incidents. The system has five functional areas – command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. Members attended classes in Oradell and Bergenfield. We would like to extend our thanks to Oradell’s Fire Department Chief, Dave Gangemi, and Oradell Captain, Derek Kahill, for inviting us.

The BFD is in the process of getting all of its members trained in the NIMS system so that going forward everyone will have a solid foundation to work at any incident that we are called to.

The Bergenfield Fire Department is on the verge of reaching 600 calls for the year. As of Alert’s still today, we are at 598. We are currently on pace to reach 625 by December 31, 2005.

At 20:20 hrs, Bergenfield Fire co. No. 2 responded to a still alarm at 100 North Washington Ave, a large garden apartment complex for activated alarms. This was call number 600 for the BFD in 2005. Units operated for 30 minutes and were able to trace the activation to cooking smoke from a microwave oven.

On Tuesday morning at 0930 hrs, the Bergenfield Fire Department responded to 30 Elm Street on a reported water main break with a possible gas leak. A few moments later, while PSE&G was preparing to shut the gas off, the 24-unit garden apartment burst into flames. The building was immediately engulfed and there were multiple reports of people trapped. Three people were killed and several others were injured.

Units operated on the scene throughout the night on into late Wednesday afternoon. Mutual aid responded from multiple towns and jurisdictions and operated on the scene in rotating shifts due to the extreme cold. New Jersey Urban Search and Rescue Task Force One was on scene as well. A report of four residents missing, potentially trapped under a large rubble pile, was enough for USAR to be called in case shoring was necessary to continue the search. As of Wednesday, the missing residents had all been accounted for and were safe.

The NTSB has taken over the investigation and an official report will be released by them in the coming months. The Bergenfield Fire Department would like to thank all of the agencies that assisted in this operation along with the many merchants that extended their generous support as well.

The members of the Bergenfield Fire Department held their December meeting on Friday night and elected their Chief’s and desk officers. Charles Hartung from Prospect Fire Co. No. 1 will serve as Chief of the Department; this will be his second time holding this position. Charlie was Chief of the Department in 2000. Greg Polandick of Alert Fire Co. No. 1 will serve as Deputy 1 and Ed Gomez of Fire Company No. 2 will serve as Deputy 2.

In 2006, Norman Hoyt Sr. will serve as President of the department along with Ken Pfannen as Vice President.  Nancy Naylis and Robert Byrnes Sr. will return as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

The 2006 line officers will be a mix and old faces and new ones. Robert Byrnes, Jr. will return as Captain of Prospect Fire Co. No.1 along with Jim Lodato as Lieutenant. Alert will be led once again by Joseph Lorz as Captain. Michael Lopez will be the new Lieutenant of Alert. This will be Mike’s first time serving in this position. Over at Bergenfield Fire Co. No. 2, Ray Van Saders has moved up from Lieutenant to Captain and the new Lieutenant will be Rich Addon. Rich has been a long time member of the department and this is his first time serving in this position.

Bergenfield Engine 745 and Deputy 1 responded to Hackensack Fire Headquarters at 0150 hrs to stand-by as the HFD fought a second alarm fire on Kansas St. Bergenfield was in quarters with units from Englewood, Ridgefield Park and South Hackensack. Bergenfield took in no runs and was released at 0520 hrs.

The BFD has received two, new Dodge Durango’s to replace two of the three chief command vehicles. More to follow.