Over the weekend, Livingston firefighters extinguished a garage fire before it could ignite cars parked inside and spread to the home.
A general alarm was sounded on Sunday, June 11, after a 9-1-1 call from the homeowner at 19 Northfield Court. The homeowner reported a fire in his garage’s electrical panel.
Fire Chief Chris Mullin arrived on the scene, and saw smoke coming from the garage, whose door was closed. He entered the garage through the house, and found an electrical panel in the garage fully involved in flames. He was able to knock down the flames temporarily with an extinguisher, but could not douse them completely.
Fire crews arrived moments later. They ran hose lines to the front of the house and the garage, and were able to get the garage door - wired to an electric opening system - open and remove the two cars parked inside.
The fire was then quickly extinguished with little incident, Chief Mullin reported. There was some smoke damage in the house, but fire damage was confined to a portion of the garage. In addition, firefighters broke windows in the garage to aid in ventilation and smoke dispersal.
The Fire Chief commended the firefighters’ quick action and professionalism, noting that their work prevented a catastrophic fire. “Fortunately, the family was home, detected the fire, and called9-l-l immediately,” Mullin said. “Our crews arrived quickly and knocked the fire down before it could spread.” He noted that, had the fire gone undetected and spread to the cars, the gasoline in them could have exploded and destroyed the entire house.
“This could have been a real ripper,” Chief Mullin said. “But our crews got there, used their training, and got the fire knocked down quickly, efficiently, and professionally. It was a coordinated team effort.”
