Station 18 and Mutual Aid Battle Rekindled Hay Bales on Frank Smith Road for 11 Hours

Hancock's Bridge, NJ - Firefighters from Lower Alloways Creek Fire & Rescue (Station 18) and mutual aid partners operated for over eleven hours overnight after gusting winds rekindled smoldering hay from a massive barn fire earlier in the week, pushing an active brush and ground fire toward an exposed structure on Frank Smith Road.

Emergency dispatchers alerted Station 18 at approximately 2:50 p.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2026 (with debriefs released Friday, October 30), reporting a rapidly spreading brush fire at the same agricultural parcel where a 6,000-square-foot pole barn was destroyed days earlier.

Assistant Chief 18-10A was first to arrive on scene, confirming that strong wind gusts were actively blowing embers and spreading flames across residual, densely packed hay bales directly toward an adjacent building.

Crews immediately established defensive water operations to protect the exposed structure. Firefighters re-established large-diameter supply hose (LDH) relays stretching from the previously established static drafting site, supplying heavy water volume to exterior master streams and multiple ground handlines.

To overcome the deep-seated embers trapped within the dense material, responders once again brought in heavy machinery to break apart and scatter the tightly bound hay bales, allowing hose teams to thoroughly saturate and drown buried hotspots.

Suppression and overhaul operations continued through the evening and night, with all units bringing the fire to a complete standstill and returning to quarters around 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

Station 18 was supported on scene by mutual aid resources from Station 13 (Hopewell-Stow Creek Fire Company), Station 15 (Greenwich Fire Company), and Cumberland County Station 21 (Cedarville Fire Company). No injuries or secondary structural losses were reported.