Woodbridge Conducts Tank Fire Drill on Sunday

Woodbridge Township will conduct a tank fire drill at the Port Reading Colonial Pipeline tank farm on Sunday, Nov. 15, township officials announced Friday.

The drill will begin at 10 a.m. at the tank farm, a storage area for fuel tanks. The tank farm is located in an industrial area off Blair Road near the New Jersey Turnpike. The drill will involve a simulated tank farm explosion and fire.

The drill is meant to test the ability of local first responders to respond to a large-scale emergency disaster. They will be using special foam-proportioning jet pumps and a hydro-foam nozzle capable of pumping 2,000 x 6,000 gallons per minute, officials said — all equipment purchased for the Port Reading fire department by Colonial Pipeline.

The Colonial Pipeline is a major U.S. fuel artery: The pipeline begins on the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and stretches 5,500 miles to New Jersey, where it unloads about 40% of the gasoline used on the East Coast. The pipeline carries gasoline, home heating oil, jet fuel and diesel to the East Coast. It terminates in Woodbridge.

The Woodbridge Township Office of Emergency Management, Woodbridge police department and Avenel fire department will be joined by the Port Reading fire department in the drill.