Late in the morning of Saturday, January 14, 2012 the Bergenfield Fire
Department was dispatched to a North Washington Avenue gas station on the
report of a fire in the repair garage.  A general alarm assignment
consisting of two engines, ladder truck, rescue, and three chiefs responded
along with the Bergenfield Volunteer Ambulance Corps as a precaution due to
the potential for injury to firefighters.  First arriving police department
units confirmed a fire inside the building involving acetylene tanks and
provided updates to the Fire Chief.  Bergenfield Police Department officers,
under the direction of Sgt. Brian Dalton, quickly established a wide safety
perimeter on all surrounding streets and evacuated nearby pedestrians due to
the obvious risk if the cylinders ruptured.  Fire Chief James Lodato arrived
shortly after and established command of the incident, directing the first
due engine and ladder to take initial action to mitigate the emergency.
 

An adequate water supply was established by two area fire hydrants and a
hoseline was stretched into the gas station parking lot.  Firefighters
entered the service bays and were able to use a wheeled cart to remove the
oxygen and acetylene tanks from the building as a means to prevent the fire
from spreading to the two cars on service lifts.  Once outside the building
a water fog was utilized to cool both cylinders while the remaining gases
burned at their safety vents.  The temperature of both cylinders was
monitored via a thermal imaging camera and the cooling fog was effective at
preventing rupture of the cylinders.  Please see the photos below for a
screen shot of the thermal imaging camera showing both cylinders in bright
white, indicating the heat they had been subject to from the fire.

Within 45 minutes the cylinders had cooled and safety discharged their
gasses to the open air.  Fire units began to break down the hoselines and
hydrants allowing some traffic flow to be restored in the area.  An
investigation was initiated by fire department investigators and later
handed over to the Fire Official who took possession of the damaged cylinder
regulators and torch for further investigation.  Both cylinders, while
severely damaged by heat and flame, were able to be safely removed by the
gas supplier and all fire department apparatus departed the scene in just
over an hour.

Given the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic on Washington Avenue on a
Saturday morning this incident created an increased risk of urgency for all
of the emergency responders.  The cooperation provided by Sgt. Dalton and
his officers along with the Bergenfield Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
complimented the response of the Bergenfield Fire Department to bring this
hazardous situation to a safe and uneventful conclusion.  The commitment and
skill of all involved agencies combined to turn a potentially disastrous
event into little more than traffic delays for some area motorists.