INSIDE THIS WEEK
Southampton Moves Ahead to Erect New Public Works Building - Pg. 2
PINE BARRENS TRIBUNE www.pinebarrenstribune.com
Vol. 2 – No. 20
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January 13, 2018 – January 19, 2018
Heartache and Heroism
PHOTO BY MARY ANN SMITH Jason Penwell, a Tabernacle Fire Company lieutenant, embraces his son as a fire consumes their home in Southampton Township.
PHOTO BY TAUNTON FIRE COMPANY Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a 148 Stokes Road warehouse that was the home of Woodside Kitchens.
Tabernacle Fireman Battles Blaze at His Own House and Tells of Gallant Son
Warehouse in Shamong Collapses After Fire Tears Through Building
By Douglas D. Melegari
SOUTHAMPTON—A 20-year fireman responded to a blaze at his own house in Southampton Township last week and soon learned of his son’s gallant efforts to save animals from the fire. “On Jan. 3 at 3:18 p.m., my pager went off,” said Jason Penwell, a Tabernacle Fire Company lieutenant. “I was on the second truck that arrived at my home.” Penwell said he learned that it was his twostory, single-family dwelling that was on fire only when he was about half way en-route to the scene. “I immediately thought about my son who normally gets home from school around that time,” he said of that moment. Penwell said that when he arrived at his 2555 North Firelane home, searching for his son was the first thing on his mind. “When we got there, I knew it was time to get
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
Staff Writer
off the firetruck,” he said. “Someone said to me that ‘I think your son was over thereʼ and I went searching for him.” Penwell soon found his 15-year old son with black soot on his face. “I said to him, ‘Are you OK?’ and he told me ‘Dad, I got all the dogs out,” Penwell said. “That is when I gave him a big hug and told him ‘I sure am proud of you.’” The embrace between father and son was captured in a photograph taken by neighbor MaryAnn Smith. The photo, along with Smith’s social media post, has since gone viral on social media. “I watched a house burn to the ground today,” she wrote on social media. “I watched a family lose everything. I spoke to the child (Penwell’s son) who saved their animals—with no adults around to tell him what to do. “This young boy was absolutely amazing.
FIREMAN>>PAGE 19
• 'Probably' the Largest Building Fire in Shamong’s History • 15 Warehouse Employees Impacted •Business Vows to Rebuild
SHAMONG—A 7,000 sq. ft. warehouse, home to Woodside Kitchens, was destroyed this past weekend by “probably” the largest building fire in Shamong Township’s history. Flames broke out inside the 148 Stokes Road commercial building just before 7:15 a.m. on Jan. 7. “Shamong Township Department of Public Works (employees) turned the fire in,” said Chief John Smith of the Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company. “They were going down the road and saw that the building was on fire.” Smith said there were flames shooting through the roof of the building when he arrived at the warehouse, but only on one side
of it. However, he said the inside of the metal building was “pretty involved” in flames upon arrival. “It is probably the largest building fire we have had in Shamong’s history,” Smith said. He said the building contained finishing material, staining material, paint thinners and wood—all combustibles. “This created quite a fire load,” Smith said. “We declared a second and then third alarm and put all hands in service.” An estimated 100 firefighters responded to the scene to help fight the blaze, which wasn’t put under control until 11:30 a.m. The blaze occurred amidst record cold temperatures. Smith said the extreme cold created several complications for firefighters. “It was 3 degrees below zero when we got there,” he said. “We were having trouble with
WAREHOUSE>>PAGE 19
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