Station 18 and Over a Dozen Fire Companies Contain Stubborn Agricultural Fire with No Injuries

Hancock's Bridge, NJ - Firefighters from Lower Alloways Creek Fire & Rescue (Station 18), joined by an extensive multi-agency mutual aid network, operated for approximately 12 hours battling a massive pole barn fire packed with farm equipment and hay on Monday in the Canton section of the township.

Emergency communications dispatched Station 18 and surrounding mutual aid units at approximately 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 26, 2026 (with operational debriefs released Tuesday, October 27), for a confirmed structure fire along Frank Smith Road. Engine 18-2 arrived within seven minutes of the initial alert to find a 60-by-100-foot agricultural pole barn completely engulfed in heavy flames. The building contained multiple tractors, farming machinery, and several hundred large round bales of stored hay.

Additional responding apparatus from Station 18 included Engine 18-1, Tanker 18-5, and Brush 18. Recognizing the immense fire load and rural location, Chief 1810 immediately called for a Tanker Task Force assignment to sustain bulk water operations.

Responders executed an extensive rural water supply evolution, laying approximately 2,400 feet of five-inch large-diameter hose (LDH) from Smick Road into the fireground and initiating a continuous drafting operation from a nearby static source to feed master streams and attack lines.

Once the primary structural fire was knocked down, crews faced a prolonged overhaul effort. Firefighters utilized heavy machinery and hand tools to break open hundreds of smoldering, tightly packed hay bales to expose and extinguish deep-seated hotspots trapped beneath the collapsed pole structure.

The grueling operation spanned roughly 12 hours before all hot spots were mitigated. Officials confirmed there were no civilian or firefighter injuries, and no livestock or farm animals were lost in the incident.

The major response drew extensive mutual aid support across Salem and Cumberland counties, including fire companies from Quinton, Alloway, Elsinboro, Salem City, Greenwich, Pennsville, Hopewell-Stow Creek, Reliance, Daretown, Willow Grove, Mannington, Upper Deerfield, and Rosenhayn. Carneys Point Fire Company provided regional station coverage, with on-scene support coordinated alongside emergency medical services, the local public works department, and township police.