Firefighter injured in Parsippany blaze

The Parsippany District 5 Fire Department did not have far to go on Saturday night, when it was dispatched to put out a house fire two doors down from the station. The call, however, was hardly routine as one firefighter fell through a damaged floor before the job was done.

According to police and fire department reports, District 5, located at 180 Old Bloomfield Ave., and township police were alerted at 9:47 p.m. to a single-family home at 152 Old Bloomfield Ave. for a report of a possible working fire. First responders saw smoke and flames coming from the west side of the home, a small cottage with a single dormer window on the second floor.

Members of the Parsippany Fire District 4 joined the District 5 crew and the fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, according to witnesses.

“I live down the street so we were able to respond very quickly,” said District 5 Chief Robert Campbell Jr.

A firefighter from District 5 was transported to the Morristown Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries sustained after falling from the second floor as it collapsed while he was inside the residence, according to police. Campbell said the firefighter, whose name was withheld, was released from the hospital that same night with no lingering injuries.

The home was not occupied at the time of the fire, according to a police report. The 28-year-old male and 30-year-old female residents of the home later arrived at the scene and were able to seek shelter with a relative.

Police and Morris County Sheriff’s Office fire investigators investigated and determined the fire was accidental.

The home sustained considerable damage, some of which was covered by a large tarp on the west side of the home, where vinyl siding could be seen warped from the heat. The upstairs dormer window was broken with glass on the pitched roof in front of it.

The home was secured by members of Car 69 Rescue and Recovery.

Additional responders included tower ladders from the Pine Brook Volunteer and Parsippany District 6, the rapid-intervention team from Whippany Fire Department and the Lake Parsippany Volunteer Fire Company District 3.

Parsippany’s Rockaway Neck Volunteer First Aid Squad also responded and stood by with its rig while the Parsippany Rescue and Recovery Unit assisted with its board-up, air truck and PATRIOT rehab trailer.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.