House Fire Response Criticized By Former Holmdel Deputy Mayor

HOLMDEL, NJ —A major fire at 10 Barbera Drive on Sept. 21 left the family homeless and prompted former Deputy Mayor Prakash Santhana to call for an investigation into how the fire response was handled.

Santhana, who also lives on the street, asked the Township Committee Tuesday night to conduct a "formal investigation" and to respond to his concerns at the next Township Committee meeting.

Santhana questioned the response time of the fire department.

He said his neighbors called in the emergency at 9:38 p.m. but the first pumper truck from Holmdel Fire & Rescue Co. #2, 12 Crawfords Corner Road, arrived at 9:53 p.m., based on his home video record.

"Why did it take 15 minutes to go 4.4 miles," he asked.

The volunteer Holmdel Fire and Rescue Company #2 operates three engines, and a tower ladder, the company's website says. It has responded to 312 calls so far this year, the site says.

There was no one immediately available from the company to respond to Santhana's questions.

Santhana said a ladder truck was at the scene but was idle for several minutes "while the fire raged inside the property."

When it did engage, he said he saw water was first being trained at the base of a tree and that water pressure appeared to be a problem. He said it also took "several minutes" to maneuver the ladder through the trees.

That prompted specific questions from Santhana:

• He asked the committee to look into why was there was a delay in engaging the ladder truck.
• He also asked if fire apparatus is being routinely tested "to ensure it is available at a moment's notice."
• With many tree-lined streets, he further asked "are we training our fire crew to handle a ladder effectively and quickly" in those conditions.
• He also asked if fire crews are trained or can be permitted to shut off gas lines.

Members of the Monmouth County Fire Marshall’s Office have taken the lead on the investigation of the fire and the cause is still under investigation, according to township fire marshal David Olsen, fire official/fire sub-code official.

Santhana said it seems to have started in the area of the whole house generator.

A gas line to the generator was feeding the fire, according to Santhana, and the fire was so hot "the embers were going over our neighboring homes."

The fire crew had to wait for a NJ Natural Gas crew to shut off gas line, so Santhana asked if fire crews can be trained to shut off a gas line in the event of a similar emergency.

Deputy Mayor DJ Luccarelli said all of Santhana's questions would "definitely" be taken into consideration and the committee "will have them looked at."

Meanwhile, Santhana said a chat group for the family is collecting money for a gift card and another group is discussing setting up a meal train to help the family at 10 Barbera Drive.

The township saw another fire this week - a fire at a detached garage at 294 Middle Road. The cause of that fire is under investigation by members of the Holmdel Bureau of Fire Prevention and members of the Monmouth County Fire Marshall’s Office, Olsen said. That fire was contained to the garage.