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June 9, 2018 – June 15, 2018
Woodland Family of 3 Displaced by House Fire By Douglas Staff Writer
D. Melegari
Photo Submitted
Valerie Harris with her two boys.
WOODLAND—A home on Applegate Place in Woodland Township caught fire last weekend shortly after a thunderstorm, resulting in the death of a pet dog and loss of equipment for a special-needs child. Firefighters were called to the scene at around 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 2. Although the blaze was contained to a room and a quarter, extensive smoke and water damage rendered the home uninhabitable, according to Woodland Fire and EMS Chief Shawn Viscardi. No one was home at the time the fire broke out, he said. The home’s owner, Valerie Harris, said that in addition to the loss of the family dog, described as a five-year-old boxer named Bella, essential medical equipment used by her son Jacob, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was lost in the fire. A GoFundMe account on Facebook has since raised more than $26,000 to help the family recoup its losses. “All of Jacob's belongings will need to be replaced, quickly for him to be able to function as he normally would,” said Harris’s neighbor and coworker Ann Kennedy, who created the page. She added that Jacob Harris takes many daily medications and requires a wheelchair, along with multiple other types of medical equipment. “But Val and her boys are safe and that is the most important thing,” Kennedy said. Harris told the Pine Barrens Tribune that she and her family are temporarily staying with family members, and that if the house can be made habitable again, she had been told it would take from 12 to 16 months before a new
Wading River Bridge ‘Chaos’
Photo By Ryan Marchese
County's Lowering of Weight Limit Disrupts Travel for Span Users, Draws Ire of Bass River Officials By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
BA S S R I V E R— A r e p o r t e d l y temporar y weight-limit reduction imposed on the Wading River Bridge, which connects Bass River Township with Washington Township, has drawn the ire of Bass River officials who allege county officials have left them in the dark about what is going on. The bridge’s weight limit, according to Bass River Township Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope, was lowered by the Burlington County Division of Roads and Bridges officials to six tons on May 4 without warning. “The day they did it, it was like sheer chaos,” she said. “We had tractor trailers and campers (that turned around in the
road). Oh my goodness—it was like sheer chaos.” The bridge carries County Route 542 over the Wading River and is utilized by many due to the convenience it provides for those wanting to travel back and forth from Hammonton—an area shopping district. Commissioner Louis Bourguignon, who is also the director of Bass River’s Public Works Department, said he called the division’s maintenance yard located in Bass River to try and find out if reports he was receiving about the bridge’s weight-limit reduction were actually true. “I said, ‘Is this really true?’” he said. “They said, ‘We don’t know anything about it.’ These people work for them and they didn’t know anything about it!”
Bourguignon said he spent an entire after noon on the phone tr ying to reach county officials about what was happening, but that he was unsuccessful in reaching someone with answers. “I talked to six different people and they said, ‘We can’t tell you what is happening, only the engineer (can),’” said Bourguignon, who added that the county only posted signs about the reduction. A resident and local truck driver attending a Bass River Board of Commissioners meeting, where the breakdown in communication was revealed, was infuriated by what he heard. “That is great,” said the man with See CHAOS/ Page 15
See WOODLAND/ Page 15
INDEX Automotive.................... 23
Health............................ 14
Marketplace................... 21
Business Directory........ 18
Hobbyist........................ 17
Opinion...........................11
Community.................... 12
Local News...................... 4
Worship Directory.......... 12
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