BAYONNE – City firefighters capped a busy week by extinguishing a truck fire at the Global Terminal on Port Jersey Boulevard on Saturday, Jan. 17 at about 2 p.m.
The Bayonne Fire Department responded to a 1:16 p.m. call about a fire at the company’s waterfront berth, according to Fire Chief Gregory Rogers.
“Arriving firefighters confronted a large plume of black smoke and flames rising from a fully involved 2,000-gallon tank truck carrying a product known as Tar Tack, or liquefied tar, used for sealing asphalt roadways,” Rogers said in a written statement.
“Firefighters stretched about 1,000 feet of hose to supply water to extinguish the fire that involved a combination of Tar Tack and diesel fuel, a product that was additionally used as an igniter fuel in the asphalt sealant process,” he said.
At least three fire trucks, including the department’s new Foam Tender unit, responded to the shipping/container port compound.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter was seen hovering over the site during the firefighting efforts.
It took firefighters approximately 45 minutes to completely extinguish the blaze that could be seen for miles.
The heat and flames totally destroyed the 2004 Ford tanker truck and additionally damaged an adjacent light pole, along with an exposed transformer and a 13,000-volt electrical substation, according to Rogers.
Workers at the scene reported that a hired contractor was using the truck and liquid tar to seal a roadway adjacent to the berth, Rogers said. They also reported that the tar apparently overheated, causing the fire.
The fire did not extend beyond the immediate area, and the ships and cranes at the facility were not exposed to flame, fire officials said.
There were no reported injuries.
Following the fire, facility workers were examining the damage to the electrical substation to determine if power could be safely restored to the cranes.
The Coast Guard, Hudson Regional Health Commission, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection were notified.
The Global fire topped off a week of prolonged activity for the city firefighting corps.
On Wednesday, the department battled a three-alarm blaze at a residential building next to the Ctown supermarket on Broadway. On Thursday, firefighters responded to an auto accident at 27th Street and Kennedy Boulevard and extricated two people from an SUV.
On Thursday and Friday, because of a water main break and the resulting lack of water in sections of the city, the department had to assemble a task force of water tankers in case fires broke out, Rogers said. Eleven 3,300-gallon water tanks were put on standby. Additionally, seven fire engines with 500 gallons of water were also readied. –Joseph Passantino