Efforts are under way to restock food pantry
Smoke damage from fire causes all items to be discarded
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer
Efforts are under way to restock the shelves of the Jackson Food Pantry following an Aug. 29 fire in the township's code enforcement office.

DAVE BENJAMIN A significant amount of food had to be disposed of after smoke damage occurred in the Jackson Food Pantry, Don Connor Boulevard.

The two agencies share quarters in a building on Don Connor Boulevard.

Smoke damage that occurred in the food pantry as a result of the fire in the code enforcement office left all of the food that had been donated for distribution to Jackson's needy residents unusable.

Township Councilman Jason Gudaitis said the Board of Health determined that all of the food had to be disposed of. Gudaitis said he has contacted supermarket operators and other businesses in the hope of restocking the shelves of the food pantry in time for the next distribution, Sept. 27.

Donations of food may be brought to town hall on West Veterans Highway. Donations of food will also be accepted at Johnson Park during the Jackson Day festivities on Sept. 8.

Supermarkets, food stores or vendors who wish to donate food for the pantry may call Gudaitis at (732) 558-8404 or e-mail jgud@terrierclaims.com.

DAVE BENJAMIN Computers, telephones and other equipment in the offices of the Jackson Division of Code Enforcement were damaged in an Aug. 29 fire.

Gudaitis said when he learned of the fire he went to the scene and found that the entire code enforcement portion of the building was destroyed. He said the food pantry, which is in a separate section, suffered severe damage, particularly smoke damage.

Mayor Mark Seda said, "We will be setting up temporary trailers to house the code enforcement office. I will be directing the Department of Public Works to make some room for the food pantry and get them back and running."

The mayor said donations are needed to restock the food pantry.

"Hopefully the township can come together and support that cause because there are people who need that help," Seda said. "The existing building will not be able to be used because there is too much work to do to restore it."

Councilman Angelo Stallone said the food pantry serves more than 100 needy families every month.

Food pantry director Phyllis Lewis said, "Unfortunately, they had a fire on the other side of the building and we had a lot of smoke damage. So we are under an embargo right now by the health department and we will have to get in there and get it all cleared up."

"The most important thing is that nobody got hurt," Jackson Business Administrator Phil Del Turco said. "I've already got things going over here (at town hall). We've got the computers and the phones back up and everything else."

Del Turco said an appraiser will review the damage to the code enforcement building. He said it was fortunate all of the code enforcement file cabinets were closed and so the paper documents are all safe.

"The other good thing is the data base is on the central network," he said. "So we're not losing a step."

According to a press release from the Cassville Volunteer Fire Company, that fire company and the Jackson Mills Volunteer Fire Company were dispatched to a possible structure fire at the code enforcement office on the evening of Aug. 29.

While en route, Cassville Chief Matt Genovese was advised by police that it was a confirmed fire in the building. Upon hearing this update he requested additional assistance from Whitesville Volunteer Fire Company and Jackson Volunteer Fire Company No. 1.

According to the press release, Genovese was the first arriving fire officer on scene - three minutes after the initial dispatch - immediately followed by Chief Michael Lubertazzi of Jackson Mills. Genovese assumed command of the firefighting operation and advised the responding units of a large volume of fire inside the building upon their arrival.

The first arriving engine company (Cassville's Engine 5611) arrived shortly after and was ordered inside for an interior attack on the fire. The crew from Engine 5611, led by Second Lt. Adam Poppe, forced entry to the door to the building and stretched a hose line into the structure to begin dousing the blaze, according to the press release.

As additional manpower began arriving, Ladder 5405 from Jackson Mills made access to the roof of the structure to provide ventilation - this releases the smoke and superheated gasses from the structure to aid in the firefighting efforts of the engine crew inside.

According to the press release, the fire was quickly contained to the room of origin. The fire was placed under control by command in 20 minutes.

Genovese said, "the combined efforts of all four volunteer township fire companies is the primary reason that the fire was contained and that the building is still standing today. That cooperation is a common occurrence - we are always there to support each other and we all work together very well. I rely on the knowledge that when in need, the other fire companies in town are always there to lend a hand, just as we are always there for them when they call us."

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Jackson Bureau of Fire Prevention, Fire Districts 2 and 4. Fire Official Dave Van Arsdale responded to the scene to begin his investigation.

"The firefighters did a fantastic job stopping the fire where they did," Van Arsdale said. "It could have been a lot worse than it was. They attacked it aggressively. They did knock it down and it saved me a lot of work, also."

Van Arsdale's job is to find the origin and the causes of the fire.

"The firemen did a minimal amount of damage on the inside," said VanArsdale. "In my opinion it came from one light that was left on in the foyer area."

He said the light probably overheated and fell onto some paper, igniting the blaze.

"I traced all the wires back and it came from that one light," VanArsdale said.

Also responding to the scene were the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad, the Jackson Police Department and Ocean County Fire Coordinator Fred Fritz.

The fire auxiliary provided food and drinks for the emergency workers.