Master Stream Operations: Franklin Park Truck 31 Joins Multi-Day Fight at Deep-Seated Mulch Fire

 Firefighters operated through the overnight hours Tuesday to deliver sustained, elevated master streams during the ongoing multi-agency suppression effort at a massive industrial mulch fire.

Just after 2:00 a.m. (0200 hours) on Saturday, 29 August, the Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company (Station 31) from Franklin Township Fire District #1 in Somerset County was requested on mutual aid into the Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick, Middlesex County. Responding aboard Truck 31, crews integrated directly into heavy aerial operations at a commercial facility on Broadway Road, where a massive, deep-seated mulch pile had been burning continuously since the early morning hours of August 30.

Truck 31 established an elevated water tower position, flowing large volumes of water over the burning material for approximately six hours to assist frontline crews in breaking up deep hot spots and containing the prolonged fire. Following the extensive overnight deployment, Truck 31 was released from the scene and returned to quarters by 8:00 a.m. (0800 hours).

The mutual aid response highlighted a busy operational weekend for the Franklin Park Fire Department, during which personnel answered five emergency calls for service, including carbon monoxide alarms, residential smoke investigations, and commercial automatic fire alarms.