Camden Fire Department - Illegal Burning at 428-430 Chestnut Street

Camden Fire Department
Fire, Rescue, & Safety Operations
February 23, 2012
Illegal Burning in the 400 Block of Chestnut Street

This page and the other pages in this series are the successors to the series of web-page about the Camden Fire Department that began with the page Camden Fire Department: The Fires of the Summer of 2011. On this and other pages in the series you will find pictures and information regarding different events and aspects of the fire service in Camden, New Jersey.

One of the many unpublicized operations that the Camden Fire Department deals with on a regular basis is that of illegal outdoors burning, that is, when in some cases well-intentioned people burn trash or debris without a permit or proper supervision. These type of fires can all too easily get out of control and cause damage to life and property.

On Wednesday February 23, 2012 I was spending some time at the Squad Company 7 at 1115 Kaighn Avenue. Working that day were Captain Angel Molina and firefighters Dan Seybert, Gabe Rivera, and Raul Aviles. Also at the fire house was Fire Marshall Joseph Tull. It was a little after 12:00 noon, and we had all just sat down for lunch when tones sounded.... Squad 7 was dispatched! The initial call referred to a one-story building at Haddon Avenue and Newton Avenue, this was quickly changed to Broadway and Newton. The smell of smoke was in the air, but nothing could be seen when we arrived at that location. Turning left onto Newton Avenue from Broadway, smoke was seen coming from an empty lot that backed onto Newton Avenue west of South 5th Street. The apparatus pulled up on Newton Avenue, and Captain Molina and Firefighter Rivera went to see what was going on. Three or four civilians had cleaned up the empty lots of 430 and 432 Chestnut Streets, once the site of houses, and had burned the rubbish. In this instance the fire had not been left unattended and was being extinguished. Firefighter Seybert brought the apparatus around the corner and stretched hose while Firefighter Aviles opened a nearby hydrant. Gabe Rivera took the hose to the fire and completed the extinguishing. Squad 7 returned to quarters, finished lunch, then went out for training.

All photos are presented in the order in which they were taken. There are so many images for this fire that I have split coverage of this fire into two parts, this being Page 2. There is a link below to return to Page 1.

As with the web page covering other Camden Fire Department events, if you can identify anyone that I've missed, please e-mail me. (I'm terrible at at names and faces)..

Phil Cohen
February 25, 2012

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AND HIGH RESOLUTION VIEWS

Gabe Rivera & Angel Molina

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AND HIGH RESOLUTION VIEWS

Raul Aviles & Dan Seybert

This lady was singing and shaking everything she had... and there was
a lot of it... on Chestnut Street while business was being taken care of...

Angel Molina & Gabe Rivera

Gabe Rivera & Angel Molina

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AND HIGH RESOLUTION VIEWS

Dan Seybert & Raul Aviles

Dan Seybert, Raul Aviles & Gabe Rivera

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AND HIGH RESOLUTION VIEWS

An adjacent property at 420-422 Chestnut Street is an auto repair business. The owner also keeps a few chickens, who were wandering about in the lot at 428-430 Chestnut where Squad 7 was operating.