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And finally, probably the most beneficial to the fire service, it became commonplace for firefighters to carry Personal Alert Safety Systems, which would activate whenever they become immobile. The use of two seperate radio frequencies also became useful. One for dispatch, and one for ground responce.
After the Ford Dealership Fire, the New Jersey FD, or any Fire Department for that matter, would have a lot of new safety guidelines and training, to prevent something this horrible from happening again. The state of New Jersey passed a law requiring placards to be placed near building entrances to note what type of truss or beam support the roof was held up by.
On July 1st, 1988, Hackensack Fire Department was dispatched at 15:01 to a report of a working structure fire at the Ford Dealership on River Street. As crews entered and battled the blaze, fire conditions worsened, and spread to the attic storage space, which was holding spare auto parts. At 15:34, the order was sent across the radio for interior attack crews to exit the building. Due to the chaos over the radio channels, the orders were not heard by the interior crews, and at15:36, the 60-ton bowstring- truss roof collapsed, instantly killing Capt. Richard Williams, and Firefighters William Krejsa and Leonard Radumski. Lt. Richard Reinhagen and Firefighter Stephen Ennis we able to escape the collaps through another room, and radio for help. But because of overwhelming chatter over radio frequency, they eventually ran out of air and died.
Firefighters also began to study building construction as a part of their training, and became familiar with the different types of roof supports, and how reliable and trustworthy they were in fires.
There are a number of reasons things went the way they did on July 1st. One of the main two reasons is the lack of stability in a bowstring-truss roof. The specific type of roof construction is well known for collapsing fairly fast and easy during fires. The second main reason the roof collapsed is due to overloading the mezzanine, or "cock loft", with heavy auto parts such as bumpers, door panels, and fenders.
Even though a lot of bad things came from the Hackensack Ford Fire, there has also been a lot of good that has made the fire service a safer place. Five firefighters lost their lives that day, but we will always remember them, and what an impact their sacrifices made in changing fire service safety.
Presented by: Ethan Clark
Thank you for your time.