May 3 - Crews from HFD and Pennington Fire responded together to extricate a young man from his car Friday evening. The car was reportedly travelling at a high rate of speed uprooting a tree. It took some time to untangle the mans' foot from under the dashboard as it was crushed between the floor and the transmission.

April 4 - Well its official...the new Tanker 52 has come home. A bit boxier than its predecessor, It has a total height of 11' 5 1/2" to the tip of the exhaust stack. When the truck is loaded with water it squats about 2". The exhaust will need to be modified in order to make it under a few key bridges in the Valley. Once that is done it should be the same height as the rear beacon roughly 10' 6". We just recieved authorization from the Fire Commissioners to allow Sutphen to display it at the Harrisburg Fire Expo in May. Feel free to stop by and take a look at this beautiful piece of fire fighting apparatus.

March 27 - Well at long last, the Final Inspection for the new Tanker 52 has been completed. Here is a beautiful shot of the truck as we filled it at a nearby pond across from Sutphens plant. The truck has some finishing touches to be attended to and is expected delivery is late next week. Check out some new pictures on our photo page or click here and here!

March 20 - New pictures from Sutphen...looks as though the truck is just about complete. More pictures will be added late Monday night after the inspection trip. 

March 8 - New pics from Sutphen.. Lights are working, hose bed cover installed, and the lettering has begun. The right side has the port-a-pond lift and the hard sleeve storage. Final inspection is scheduled for March 25th.

March 1 - New Tanker Pics! Pump cabinet is complete as well as the center console.

Feb 25 - Hot off the Sutphen Press! Newest picture of our new tanker with the tank installed...should be anytime now...

Feb 22 - Another update from Sutphen, and it looks as though the project is coming along. The Que has been installed in the bumper and the pump has been mounted on the chassis. In speaking with the build team we expect to head up for the final inspection about the 2nd week of March.

Feb 4 - HFD assisted Amwell Valley FD with a working fire at a Rt 31 residence. Upon arrival crews had heavy fire conditions and zero visibility. The Quint, Engine and Tanker were put into service and were onscene for 6 hours fighting the blaze. See more pictures here.

Feb 18 - New pictures from Sutphen today...The truck is coming together, as the electric pond lifts have been installed, and the pump has finally arrived. The rear of the tank has been outfitted with all the steps and lighting. Once the pump is piped in, the tank can be lowered onto the chassis...followed by the final inspection trip by the committee.

Feb 8 - New Tanker pics straight from White Lake, NY. As soon as the pump is ready the tank will be installed on the frame. More lights and fittings have been installed as well. We expect delivery by the end of the month.

Jan 30 - New Pictures! The Tanker build is coming along nicely. Notice the air horns are installed, emergency lighting, including the light bar and the scene light, the body was fitted to the chassis this week as well. Just waiting on the delivery of the pump from Hale, to mount the tank!

Jan 25 - New pictures emerge from White Lake NY, at the Sutphen Plant where the new Tanker 52 is being built. A few more weeks till we can roll it into the Station...

Jan 11 - The Tanker committee met with Sutpen East for the last final touches on the prebuild Friday. See a few pictures here and here of the new apparatus...

Nov 9 - New pictures from the Sutphen Plant in upstate NY of the rough body for the new Tanker truck. More pictures to come...

October 19 - The first images of our new Stuphen/Kenworth Tanker being built in White Lake, NY. Expected delivery is February 2013. Conceptual drawing can be found here...

October 13 - As HFD was setting up for the Harvest Fair, the sirens rang out in town for a mutual aid tanker call in Bucks County PA. A large barn was burning at a local farm and water was in short supply. Deputy Chief Mullen was at the wheel of Tanker 52 and after a 25 minute drive they made to the scene where, with the assistance of FF/EMT Dave VanDoren shuttled 12,000 gallons of water for fire suppression. More pictures here...

Sept 11 - The smaller artifact of steel recovered from the World Trade Center's Ground Zero given to Hopewell Valley was moved from the MC Public Library to Bank of America (Merrill Lynch) memorial site. Shown here carrying the steel is Specialists John Schafer, Chris Robinson, Josh Wilson, and J.D. Moore with Andy Fosina in tow. Valley emergency service members lined the route to the resting place, including from left Chief Martin, Deputy Chief Mullen, Lt. Peck, PO Tulko, and Ast Chief Muccioli. More pictures here...Below is the large flag hung between Ladder 51 and Telesquirt 53 during the 9/11 Memorial opening on Saturday Sept 8th.

July 25 -Tanker 52 was special called to assist Station 23 with a gas leak at a Lawrence residence. Crews where digging during renovations and struck the underground main to the house. PSEG had crews onscene within an hour to repair the 1" supply line. Several units from Lawrence and Princeton were called in to assist as the main could not be shut off at street.

Somerset Fire Academy Graduation - Spring 2012

July 24 - Five firefighters from HFD graduated from SCFA tonight, adding 3 new certified firefighters to HFD's roster. The other two broadened their knowledge with FF2 certifications. Pictured are (L to R) Caitlyn Toth, Luke Morehouse, William H. Walker III, and Ali Walker. Missing was Andrew VanDoren. Congratulations to all.

July 10 - HFD did some live burn training exercises this month at the Dempster Fire Training Center. Here we see Specialist John Schafer from HVES 50 making sure HFD Captain Dave Hunt dons his safety equipment. Crews went thru several evolutions including search and rescue and extinguishment. See more pics here...

52 ASSISTS 48 WITH QUICK STOP

July 7 - Station 52 was requested to assist Amwell Valley Fire Co with a smoke condition in a residence. Upon Deputy 52's arrival 48 fire was stretching the line from the engine. There was black smoke pouring out of the doorway and he advised Quint 52's incomming crew to pack up and head inside to assist with the fire attack. Within minutes Battalion Chief Rob Myers radioed the fire was out and they were checking for extension. The crew started salvage and overhaul in the back bedroom to make sure the fire didnt make it into the wall. There was no power at the house and the homeowners had a generator running supplying the house with power from cords run thru a window. It is unknown if the generator played a role in the fire. Squad 152 responded with an ambulance and SS52 to assist with rehab in the sweltering heat.

June 12 - A commerical fire alarm turned into a working fire early Tuesday morning in the Township.  Crews were called about 0620 and the incident was upgraded to a first alarm upon arrival of PFD Chief Jim DeForte. Smoke was showing from two roof vents and there was a slight smoke condition inside the structure. First arriving firefighters from Pennington and Hopewell were able to quickly knock down the fire inside the kitchen walls. Although there was a ventilation hole cut in the roof, there was minimal damage. Investigation is ongoing by HTPD and HVES but it seems electrical in nature.  

April 2 - All Valley Fire Departments were called to a Pennington Rd address for a working house fire about 20:00 hrs last night.  Quint, Engine, Tanker, and Special Service 52 responded to assist Pennington Firefighters with extinguishing the blaze. No one was hurt, but one dog has perished. 20 other dogs, including about 7 puppies just days old were rescued. Pictured here is Deputy Chief Will Mullen bringing one puppy to EMS crews for oxygen after being found hiding behind a door in the smoke charged kitchen.Below is a picture of the Quint crew at the ready to go into service on the front lawn. See more pictures here or video here from ABC News Channel 6.

All pictures courtesy of Michael Ratcliffe - Station 22

Jan 23 - Foggy and wet roads contributed to this messy MVA on Cherry Valley Rd in Hopewell Twp. A single vehicle lost control and slid into the heavy timber pole carrying high tension and secondary power wires including phone and cable services. When the first police unit arrived, followed by Rescue 52, they found a car on its side with the pole impeding into the passenger compartment. The driver was still trapped inside. Initial reports were the car was on fire, but thankfully that only proved to be steam from the decimated engine compartment. PSE&G was contacted and shut down all power in the area affecting a few thousand customers. As soon as the electric was cut, Rescue 52's crew went into service assisted by Rescue 51 who were special called by Chief 50. The rescue was supervised by Ast Chief Galatro and Deputy Chief Mullen who took command. The battery was cut, the pole's weight was supported with the Para Tech kit, and once sufficent time passed for the air bag modules to de-energize, the roof was removed for patient access. The patient was transferred to 152 EMS and medics from Capital Health.    More pictures here...

Photo curtesy of NJ.com
Jan 20 - The siren roared to life about 1711 hours as the Ewing Twp fire companies fought a 2nd alarm fire. The request was to cover Station 32's fire house but as Engine 52 started south soon command upgraded to the 3rd alarm and pulled Engine 52 into the scene for a 2nd RIT. Manpower and tools were needed to break thru the well constructed roof of a new school being built just off the property of Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, so as they arrived they were put into service on the roof. Chief 52 arrived and was assigned as manager of manpower. Once heavy machinery arrived on site they were able to pull up the heavy roofing materials and extinguish the blaze underneath. The fire started as contractors were cutting thru the roof extending vent pipes.