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I am writing in regard to the home on Sommerdale Road in the
Township of Voorhees that burned to the ground on the evening of
December 11th, 1998.
The Township of Voorhees employs full time fire fighters. These
are not volunteers from the area, but are township employees. They
are supposed to know their job, and to at least have some tiny idea
of where the roads and hydrants are. That night's fire lends proof
that they know neither.
It took 45 minutes from the first call until the arrival of the
first engine, and then another 15 minutes to find the hydrants, the
closest to the burning home no more that 20 yards away, incidentally
being the very last hydrant tapped when found. By this time, a small
fire that appeared to start near the attic on one end of the home
turned into a blaze that eventually gutted the entire home, all before
the first drops of water fell on the flames.
The entire night was disgraceful. The fireman directing traffic
didn't even have a clue as to the names of the streets of the town he
protects. When asked how to circumvent the road blocks to get to my
own home on Warren Avenue, the road right next to the burned up shell
that used to be the home of the elderly widow and her now departed dog,
he was perplexed, as if he had never heard of the street before.
This is not the first case of incompetence from our publicly paid
fire department. Within the past month, a small fire in one of the
apartment complexes close to Echelon Mall was allowed to burn long
enough to wipe out three entire addresses, not to mention setting the
leaves in the street afire and burning up a Voorhees Police Car! This
is quite comical in the abstract, but is absolutely horrendous in
reality, especially to a taxpayer of this, one of the wealthiest
townships per capita in the State of New Jersey.
I am handicapped, and get around in a wheelchair. If, for God's
sake, there were ever a fire in my home, there is absolutely no way
for me to get out in time without help. It looks as if it would be
in my best interest to write a letter to the post office for aid if
I ever were in a fire. They would arrive more quickly, and probably
wouldn't hesitate to act.
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