Speedy Flames Win at N.J. Racetrack Despite Fire Plan, Drills to Cut Odds
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The Garden State Racetrack was a target hazard for the Cherry Hill, N. J., Fire Department. The department had a pre-fire plan and had conducted drills there with mutual aid companies.
Yet, when the fire struck the mostly wood-frame, 1500 feet long, 300 feet wide and 90 feet high grandstand last April 14, the situation was beyond the point where the efforts of the responding Cherry Hill department—or any other department—could save the massive structure loaded with racing fans. The $21.6 million fire leveled the grandstand, which included the clubhouse. The track is about 10 miles east of Philadelphia.
At the track, someone in the press box walked by a reporter’s desk and said, “That elevator has broken down again.” That meant nothing. A moment later, the horse identifier said, “There’s a fire in the Colonial Room.”
photos by Hub Kanos:.
No other warning
That meant something. There was no other warning. There could be none. The public address system was out, as was the tote board. There was a total electrical failure at the track.
As the working press made their way down through the clubhouse, they were met with a wall of black smoke that wiped out visibility at the second floor in a matter of seconds. There was no visible fire—only smoke. Then came the flames that whipped through the grandstand.
The first alarm was received by the Camden County Fire Alarm Communications Center in Lindenwold at 4:24 p.m. In accord with the standard four-company response, the Erlton, Woodland, and Church Road Companies of the Cherry Hill Fire Department and the Haddonfield Fire Department were dispatched. The initial response called for seven 1000-gpm pumpers, two 75-foot elevating platforms, a 100-foot aerial ladder and Erlton’s 104-foot platform. A heavy rescue squad and ambulances also were dispatched.
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Black smoke fills sky
Heavy black smoke was already filling the sky as Captain Daniel DiRenzo and the Erlton Company pulled out fo the station on busy Highway 70.
As DiRenzo and his units arrived at the track entrance, they were faced with several thousand autos trying to leave the parking lot. Worse yet, the time of the day called for normal heavy traffic in the area, which was swollen already by sightseers.
DiRenzo and his crew pulled up at the Rotunda entrance to the clubhouse where with Firemen Schwarta and Seigfried, he ascended the stairway. They were met by track security personnel.
Based on a quick size-up, DiRenzo determined that an interior attack was not possible as the lives of fire fighters would have been endangered.
Fans trapped on veranda
Patrons in this area were fleeing for their lives, but many were trapped and had taken refuge on a veranda surrounding the Rotunda. Ladders flew up to the trapped victims and platforms were placed in service.
One patron was trapped on a narrow fourth-floor ledge as flames flashed beneath him. DiRenzo ordered Erlton’s elevating platform, under the command of his brother, Lieutenant Wayne DiRenzo, to set up for rescue. Within moments, the basket, operated by Lieutenant Leonard Alecknavage with Fire Fighter Raymond Sooy aboard, was moving toward the victim. Nearing the ledge, they faced intense heat and smoke but were able to reach down and pluck the semiconscious victim to safety.
Haddonfield’s ladder crew under the command of Chief John Howarth, with the assistance of the firemen from Erlton Engine 1323, laddered the Rotunda terrace, and a steady stream of people, aided by fire fighters, made their way safely down ladders from the rerrace.
Money dropped into chutes
Back at the track where Duty Roster had just won the 5th race, people stood in line hoping to cash in their winning tickets, but the cashiers were not paying off. They were dumping a million dollars into the chutes that carried the money to the fireproof counting room below the stands, or else they were stuffing it in their shirts or coats preparing to flee. The next day, virtually all monies were recovered.
Fire Fighters Thomas Parks and Michael Shampine made their way into the grandstand, taking their apartment pack, 100 feet of 1 ½ -inch line with them in an attempt to hold the fire, but the fire broke through glass doors with such intensity that they had to break for safety, sliding down the beams of their ladder to escape.
Jockeys vacated their quarters by jumping onto a veranda roof. They threw their saddles and tack out windows to the ground. Unfortunately, before they themselves were rescued by fire fighters, people on the ground “rescued” their equipment and drove off with it.
Fatal heart attack
Initial efforts of the first-alarm companies was all on rescue. To their credit, of the 10,000 people in the stands, only two were reported missing and have not been found. Area hospitals were notified to place their disaster plans in effect, but were called upon to treat only 21 cases, mostly smoke inhalation. A 56-year-old member of the Camden County Fire Police, John McWilliams, had a fatal heart attack just as he arrived on the foreground.
Second Assistant Chief Joseph Maroccia of the Erlton Company was passing through Marlton, about 5 miles away from the fire, and saw the column of smoke. Maroccia ordered the second alarm transmitted at 4:43 p.m., some 19 minutes after the first alarm. He instructed county radio to tell all secondalarm units to go in service with their largest hose lines.
The Deer Park and Ashland companies of Cherry Hill, along with Cherry Hill 1 and Pennsauken 2, were dispatched on the second alarm. Pennsauken ⅛ elevating platform was directed to set up on the south side of the fire.
Low pressure on hydrants
Second-alarm engines were instructed to lead in from yard hydrants, which were supplied from a 250,000-gallon elevated tank through 8-inch mains. Fire fighters found low pressure on these hydrants.
First Assistant Chief Steve Ash of Erlton ordered the third alarm at 4:46 p.m. and the fourth at 5:09. This brought units from Woodcrest, Westmont, Gloucester, Pennsauken 6, Audubon 1 and Oaklyn.
These units stretched from four hydrants about 500 feet apart at Route 70 and Delaware Avenue, all off the same 12-inch main. To reach the fire, companies had to lay lines across a six-lane highway. Obviously, water supply was going to be a big problem.
Chief Hugh Gibson of Erlton arrived shortly after the fourth alarm. After one look, Gibson realized that the size of the structure alone meant that it was beyond the span of control of any one man as chief.
Chiefs assigned to sectors
Gibson met with Chief Joseph Reinhard of the Pennsauken Department, Assistant Chiefs Marrocia, Kacca and Ash of Erlton. and Chief Will Ward of the Deer Park Company and assigned them sectors of the fire. Ward was designated as the water supply officer.
Water was available on the south side of the fire from a pond in the middle of the infield that contained an estimated 2 million gallons of water. This was assigned to Reinhart. The heat on this side of the fire was so intense that the tote hoard and a judges stand on the inside of the track, an estimated 500 feet from the main fire, were burned. Reinhart designated eight pumpers, all using 5 or 4-inch hose, to work at draft and relay into eight other pumpers, which fed master stream devices. It is estimated that they pumped 1:2 million gallons of water, dropping the level of the pond 3 feet.
As water pressure dropped in the yard mains and the hydrants on Highway 70, Ward sent three pumpers to Mercer Street, with orders to lay parallel 3-inch lines from a 12-inch main directly into hydrants on Haddonfield Road. Working with him was Chief Bill Chain of Haddon Heights, an employee of the New Jersey Water Company. In effect, they transferred water from Mercer Street, served by the New Jersey Water Company, into the MerchantvillePennsauken water system, which supplied the immediate track area. The 50 psi in the Mercer Street main dropped to 5 to 20 psi, but the pressure on the other system went up 20 psi as an estimated 2500 gpm was moved into the fire area.
Water supply defended
Ed Hahn, manager of the Merchantville-Pennsauken system stated, “they were giving all the water they could at the height of the fire.”
Hahn said in the press the next day, “Water supply was as good as you could get anywhere in South Jersey . . . You don’t build for the holocaust. You think the worst fire there will be will require about four pumpers. No one ever expected anything like this. There isn’t anything that we could have done.”
Camden responded with two pumpers and a battalion chief on the fifth alarm along with companies from Runneroede, Chews Landing, Pine Hill, Watsontown, Blackwood, Cedarbrook, Sicklerville, Waterford and Berlin Boro.
the flames were visible through the smoke from the heliport atop of the Fire Administration Building in Philadelphia, and Commissioner Joseph R. Rizzo asked Assistant Chief of Communications Stanley J. Kulikowski if help was needed. He was told it was.
Stratford, Lawnside, Somerdale, and Philadelphia were dispatched at 6 p.m. Philadelphia assembled a task force of four 1000-gpm pumpers and its 125-foot elevating platform, under the command of Deputy Chief Joseph McCarey. Upon rival, the platform was placed in service with lines already laid on the fireground.
Grandstand collapses
Shortly after this, with the grandstand collapsed, Gibson took an overall look in a helicopter supplied by the New Jersey State Police. Shortly after landing, he placed the fire under control at 6:28 p.m. However, companies were dispatched by County Control throughout the night and the next day to keep watch lines on the fire and provide relief for weary fire fighters.
A command post was set up on the fireground by Camden County Coordinator Jack Plasket, using County Field-Corn 1. To help with the communications problem, Bell Telephone came in with mobile telephone units and laid land lines to the communications van, the police communications van and to three cars. This greatly assisted in communications as there were problems with excessive traffic on the fire radio band.
Police from Cherry Hill, Pennsauken, Haddonfield, Haddon Township, and the Camden Park Police coordinated traffic in the area. The Cherry Hill police mobilized 70 members out of a 130 man department and sent them all to the track. They were very helpful in what turned out to be a big deal—the emptying of the parking lot while still letting fire apparatus in to lay lines.
Another problem was the threat of spread from flying embers. Fires were started up to 22 miles away in Atco, N. J., and the next day ashes were found covering cars and homes in West Berlin, about 20 miles distant.
Patrol handles four fires
Four dwelling fires started south of the track were handled by four engine companies on roving patrol. In addition, four engine companies were stationed in Haddonfield, four in Locustwood, and four in the stable area of the track. Fortunately, because of wind direction, the stable area was not seriously threatened by the fire.
In all, 104 pieces of apparatus were dispatched to the blaze—70 pumpers, 16 ladders (4 platforms), and the balance rescue squads.
Problems arose in the area of fuel replenishment, radio traffic control, and the control of sightseers.
The Erlton Fire Department remained on the scene for some 46 hours, and had its platform in service for 40 hours.
The fire loss at the track was estimated at $21.6 million. A far greater loss is the loss to the tax base of Cherry Hill and to businesses in the area, such as motels and restaurants. As of this writing, no decision has been made as to whether the track will be rebuilt.
Information in this article is based on interviews with Chief Hugh Gibson, Erlton Fire Department; Chief Joseph Reinhart, Pennsauken Fire Department; Chief Will Ward of Deer Park (Cherry Hill) who served as water supply officer; and Robert Bartosz, photographer for the Camden County Firemen’s Association.
