JTOWN Magazine | October, 2013
How Jackson Firefighters Helped to Save the Seaside Heights Boardwalk
As the fire on the boardwalk progressed northward and more fire departments from around the region were called in to fight the fire, water supply became an issue. As the blaze spread, it became apparent that the water system of Seaside Heights had reached its capacity. At 2:25 pm, Ocean County dispatched a joint task force of Jackson Township fire companies which included equipment and personnel from each of Jackson’s 4 fire districts, including both volunteers and career firefighters from the Whitesville Fire Company, Cassville Fire Company, Jackson Mills Fire Company and Jackson Station 55. The task force crossed the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge over the Barnegat Bay after a nearly twenty mile drive. The fire was clearly visible, blanketing the barrier island
with billowing black smoke. “We knew we don’t get called to Seaside on an ordinary basis,” said Whitesville Fire Company Chief Scott Rauch. “We knew were going to work.” Rauch said the last time all four Jackson fire companies were dispatched together for an out of town fire was in 2007 for a 2,500 acre fire at the Warren Grove Gunnery Range in Stafford Township. Once the task force arrived they were given their assignment by the Ocean County fire coordinators. Their task was to stop the northwardly advancement of the fire near Lincoln Avenue and Ocean Terrace, to prevent the fire from crossing the 25 foot boardwalk breach created earlier. Station 57’s ladder truck was deployed on Ocean Terrace. “The water system was greatly taxed, so we laid a pipeline to the bay,” Rauch
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said. While the pipeline was being established, the Cassville engine began drawing water from the Barnegat Bay along with the Tuckerton Fire Department. Jackson Mills and Station 55 had run over 6,000 feet of hose to bring water from the bay to the boardwalk. It was nothing new for Jackson firefighters who are routinely tasked with fighting fires city without water as portions of Jackson Township to date, have no water services and homes utilize wells. It’s a process called drafting where water is pumped from a body of water for use by the apparatus’ fighting a fire. “We draft all the time. It’s very common in Jackson where we have no hydrants,” Rauch said. “A few
days after the fire, we had a residential structure fire where we had to draft from a pond.” As the Jackson fire companies were establishing the new water source, other companies tried creative measures, including drafting water from swimming pools of nearby motels. A second drafting point north of the Jackson firefighters was established by fire companies from Monmouth County, but it was never utilized since the water provided by Jackson and Tuckerton units were suitable to assist firefighters on the boardwalk to eventually contain the fire. “We had people from all four fire districts and they came together as a team and worked well together.” Rauch said.
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