News

Commercial Building Fire - Worcester County Developmental Center
Tuesday, September 4, 2007

On Tuesday September 4, 2007, at 1514 hours, the Worcester County Emergency Operations Center dispatched the box alarm for a reported building fire at the Worcester County Developmental Center on Newark Road. The inital box alar required a full response from Newark, 2 engines, 2 trucks and a tanker from Berlin, a tanker from Snow Hill and a tanker from Ocean City. First arriving units reported fire showing from a window. Newarks first arriving engine placed a handline in service and began an interior attack. Newark First Assistant Chief Mike Serman established Newark Road command. Tower 6 took a position on the A/D corner and began to ladder the roof while Truck 603 took a position on side A and laddered the roof. Truck 603 vented the roof while other crews worked hard to find the fire and make an aggressive interior attack. Due to a partial roof collapse in the rear of the building, units were evacuated for a short time while officers were able to assess damage to the building. Master streams from both trucks were placed in service to control the fire. Additional tankers were requested to the scene to help maintain a water supply. The fire was placed under control at approximately 1800 hours. All fire units were placed in service at 2020 hours. Apparatus from Newark, Berlin, Snow Hill, Ocean City, Showell and Powellville were on the scene. A special thanks to Willards for standing by at Berlin Fire Headquarters during this fire.