Fire Siren

In response to several questions about the siren alerting system in Clinton I will explain how the system works. There are 2 sirens in the Town of Clinton, 1 on the firehouse and the second 1 is located on West Main Street by the Shell Station. When the Clinton Fire Department is dispatched for a call a tone is sent out via a radio frequency. This tone makes our firefighters pagers beep and sets off the sirens in town. The sirens are on timers and should only work from 6:00 am until 10:00 pm.

The sirens serve several functions, alerting firefighters, alerting the public, and can be used during a state of emergency. Our firefighters carry pagers so some people have asked why do you need the siren to alert your members. Simple pagers do malfunction, members may work outside and not carry the pager, or they may be in a loud environment and can not hear the pager. Alerting the public that the CFD has been dispatched for a call is another reason for the siren. When the public hears the siren they should be alert for firefighters responding to the station as well as fire, police, and EMS apparatus responding to the scene of the call. Last but certainly not least in the event of a serious emergency town officials could use the sirens to alert the public.

Many questions have been asked in regards to the intermittent use of the siren on West Main Street. There were a few factors that came into play causing this siren to be out of service several times over the last several years. One cause was the Hunterdon County Communications Center switched all fire department dispatching to a different frequency and it took a while for the new equipment to be installed. A second factor was the Exit 15 construction when the power was disconnected and the siren was mounted on a new pole. Lastly there was a minor problem with the timer that was fixed recently. For those who ask how we made due when the siren was down the answer is simple, members missed several calls during this time.

The most important thing to remember when you hear the siren blow is that your neighbors are leaving their families, their jobs, school to help out the community. They don't get paid and there is always the chance when that siren blows that a firefighter may not see his or her family again. If anyone has further questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask, we are always at the firehouse on Monday evenings so feel free to stop by.

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Fire Call Update!

Photos are of units operating Sunday, 9/20/09 at the Hunterdon Developmental Center.

The Clinton Fire Department has been pretty active since my last posting on Wednesday, September 16. Since that day CFD has responded to 8 more calls for help.

Wednesday, 9/16/09 3:28 pm CFD was dispatched to (Fire Box 4501 Level 1) Old Highway 22 for an odor of gas behind the Hair Cutters. Chief 45 arrived in less than a minute followed by Engine 45-2 and quickly determined the source to be a small diesel spill behind the Laundromat. Absorbent was applied and units were back in quarters by 3:41 pm.

Wednesday, 9/16/09 8:29 pm Fire Box 2548 Level 1 was dispatched for the fire alarm at Hunterdon Developmental Center, Cottage 21. This box brings CFD, Quakertown(Engine 91-2), And Pattenburg(Engine 25). Chief 45 and Deputy 45 arrived in 3 minutes and quickly determined the cause of the alarm was accidental and all responding units except Engine 45-2 were cancelled. The Engine crew double checked the building and reset the alarm. All Units were back in quarters at 8:46 pm.

Friday, 9/18/09 8:39 pm CFD was dispatched for Engine 45-1 on automatic mutual aid with Annandale Hose Company for a natural gas odor in a dwelling on Wellington Dr. Engine 45-1 arrived 9 minutes after dispatched and assisted with a gas meter to monitor the house. No readings were found and the gas company was notified. Engine 45-1 returned and was ready for service at 9:16 pm.

Saturday, 9/19/09 2:10 am Fire Box 2548 Level 3 was dispatched for a possible fire in the hospital building at Hunterdon Developmental Center. Units arrived and found there was no fire, but a serious steam leak in the basement. The hospital was evacuated as fire units from Clinton, Quakertown, High Bridge, and Pattenburg worked wit HDC Engineering to shut down the leak. The leak was stopped around 3:30 am and all units were clear of the scene by 4:00am.

Saturday, 9/19/09 5:53 am Engine 45-1 was dispatched with Annandale for an odor of gas at Amerigas on Beaver Ave. in Clinton Township. Units arrived quickly and determined there was no problem, all units were back in service at 6:09 am.

Saturday, 9/19/09 8:39 am Engine 45-1 was dispatched with High Bridge for an alarm at Spruce Run Recreation area. The alarm was quickly determined to be false and CFD was cancelled without responding.

Saturday, 9/19/09 10:17 am Fire Box 2548 Level 1 was dispatched for HDC Cottage 13 for the fire alarm activation. Engine 45-1 assisted by Chief 91, Engine 91-2, Engine 46-1, and Engine 25 found the alarm to be caused by water leaking into the alarm system. The alarm was cleared and the building was turned over to HDC Staff. All FD units returned to service at 10:45 am.

Sunday, 9/20/09 4:43 pm Fire Box 2548 Level 1 was transmitted at HDC for an explosion and fire in a manhole. Chief 45 arrived in 2 minutes and found smoke coming from a manhole near cottage 17. Chief 45 set up command and was notified of multiple fire alarms and a smoke condition in cottage 12. Command requested the call be upgraded to a level 3 and a special call for Tower 46 due to CFD Tower being out of service. Units checked building to building verifying that the alarms were false and that no smoke or Carbon Monoxide was entering the buildings. The smoke condition in cottage 12 was caused by a compressor motor fire which was secured by FD members. Cottage 17 also had smoke condition which was determined to be coming from the manhole fire via conduit. 9 cottages as well as the hospital building were evacuated. HDC Engineering arrived and ensured that power was shut off and opened the manhole. Once units ensured all buildings were safe and there was no further danger all occupants were allowed to return to the buildings and the scene was turned over to HDC Staff. All FD and EMS units were back in service at 8:15 pm.

The following responded and assisted at the scene.

Fire Units: Clinton FD(Chief 45, Engines 45-1, and 45-2, Service 45) Quakertown (Deputy 91, Engine 91-2, Rescue 91) High Bridge (Chief 14, Deputy 14, Ladder 14) Annandale (Chief 46, Tower 46) Pattenburg (Squad 25) Lebanon (Squad 18(FAST))

Station Cover: Glen Gardner (Engine 12-2) and Lebanon (Ladder 18)

EMS: Clinton (Chief 45-5, BLS 4651, BLS 4554, BLS 4553, Rescue 45-5, Service 45-5) High Bridge (BLS 1451) Quakertown (BLS 9152) Flemington (BLS 4955) Bloomsbury (BLS 4352)

Hunterdon County: Deputy Fire Coordinators (Stephens & Rathborne) EMS Coordinator (Buchannon)

NJ Division of Fire Safety: Tim Weiss and Walter Zieser.