At approximately 8:25 PM on Sunday February 3rd, 2019, Station 51 and Rescue 23 (Lawrenceville Fire Company) were dispatched to Blake Dr. in Hopewell Grant for a reported appliance fire. First arriving officers of the Hopewell Township Police Dept. attempted to suppress the fire; however, they were unsuccessful as the fire was already too intense. Chief 51 arrived on scene shortly thereafter and established command. As he made entry into the multi-family structure, he encountered smoke throughout the second division and asked for the box to be filled. This upgrade requested Station 52 (Hopewell Fire Department), Station 53 (Union Fire Company and Rescue Squad), Engine 33 (West Trenton Volunteer Fire Company) and RIT 22 (Lawrence Road Fire Company). Members of both Station 51 and Station 23 were already in quarters and quickly responded following the initial tones. Tower 51 was the first due unit to the scene followed soon after by Rescue 51 and Rescue 23. Tower 51 stretched a line to the front door. The tower crew made entry along with a member of 23 and located the fire room on the second floor. Arriving crews of Rescue 51 made entry to conduct primary searches of the residence. A water supply was established from a nearby hydrant by next due units. Members of Rescue 51 ascended the stairs to the second division where they were able to locate a cat within the residence and remove it. The cat was evaluated and treated by Ambulance 151 (Pennington First Aid Squad) and returned to its owners. The fire was quickly knocked down; preventing it from spreading throughout the structure. Tower 51’s aerial was raised to gain access to the roof to ventilate the structure; however, with the rapid extinguishment, no cuts were needed. The fire was officially placed under control by Chief 51 around 8:50PM. Crews continue to work on scene conducting overhaul operations to ensure no extension had occurred. Units were on scene for approximately 2 hours.

Tower 60 (Princeton Fire Department) and Engine 31 (Prospect Heights Volunteer Fire Company) were assigned to cover Station 51.

Thank you to all responding companies especially our mutual aid partners.

No further details will be released regarding this incident.

*Approved for release by Chief 51