WARETOWN-At approximately 11 pm the Waretown Fire Company was dispatched to a structure fire a Buy Rite Liquor Store on Rt.9.
Firefighters arrived to find a large exterior fire that had extended into the building’s attic.
Firefighters made an aggressive interior fire attack and were met with extremely heavy fire and heat on the second floor of the building.
“Ladder trucks were set up and the interior crews temporarily exited the building while master streams from the ladders knocked back some of the fire and heat,” the Waretown Fire Department said. “Interior crews then re-entered the second floor again being met with high heat and fire. They pulled the interior ceilings and were able to suppress the fire without incident.”
Due to the building’s area of 9,000 square feet, with a high fire load,and the amount of manpower needed to fight a large fire, surrounding Fire Departments from Forked River, Barnegat, Stafford, Pinewald Pioneer and Lanoka Harbor were on scene assisting.
Additionally, two FAST Teams from Bayville and Toms River responded. FAST Teams are dedicated teams that are responsible for rescuing other firefighters in the event of emergency. They are not used to fight the actual fire and are dedicated to fire fighter rescue. Local protocol dictates that these teams cannot be from the town that the fire takes place in.