Hillsborough Mayor Frank DelCore hosted a conference call Friday morning to give an update on the massive fire at the Veterans Industrial Park that has raged since Thursday afternoon. Watch video
UPDATE: Hillsborough warehouse fire could burn for days, fire chief says
HILLSBOROUGH - The massive warehouse fire at Veterans Industrial Park continued to burn Friday morning as firefighters work rotating shifts and slowly begin to bring it under control.
That was the message delivered during a press briefing held Friday morning. Black smoke can still be seen for miles, but is beginning to diminish, township officials said.
The township's Health Officer Dr. Glen Belnay said air monitoring is continuing at the site and there does not appear to be any public health threat, but residents are advised to shelter indoors.
"It's been a long night for the firefighters," said Hillsborough Mayor Frank DelCore. "The response has been absolutely tremendous. We're very appreciative of all the work our local firefighters, as well as surrounding towns have done."
The fire is now contained to the two buildings initially involved at the four-building warehouse complex. It began on Thursday just before 3 p.m. and quickly became a two-alarm fire. Firefighters from around the region were called in as the blaze continued overnight.
By Friday morning, firefighters from over 30 communities and five counties - Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Warren and Somerset are fighting the blaze - and more than 200 fire vehicles had responded to the scene. Tanker operations remain working there.
Firefighters are working 10- to 12-hour shifts with anywhere from 50 to 100 firefighters working at any one time.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency set up six air monitoring stations overnight, and, after one located directly across from the blaze spiked to a dangerous level at 3:30 a.m., air quality levels have returned to below those dangerous levels.
Route 206 remained closed in both directions until Friday afternoon and power, disconnected Thursday during the peak of the blaze, has been restored to all residents.The four large building contained various commodities, storage containers, paper records storage and plastic chips and pellets. The building are owned by the federal government.
The site is formally the Defense Logistics Agency Depot, which once housed 12,500 barrels of mercury since the early 1940s. The last shipment of mercury left the township for Nevada in December 2010. The building where the mercury stockpile was removed a decade ago was not burned in the blaze and not a factor today.
Hillsborough Township schools, closed Friday because of the fire, will reopen on Monday. Schools were closed because Sunnymead Elementary School is located near the blaze. The building is not in any danger.
One firefighter suffered a leg injury and another an eye injury. Neither is believed to be serious.
Hillsborough Township police asked Friday morning that residents in the areas of Camplain, Old Camplain and Sunnymead roads and Brooks Boulevard avoid exposure to the smoke and keep windows closed.
Although freezing fell well below freezing overnight, firefighters managed to get through the night without any major equipment malfunctions. Six to 10 ladders have been operating.
"Our stores in Hillsborough, Neshanic Station, Rocky Hill and Princeton are working together ... providing shelter and hospitality for the first responders," Lori Bruce, a spokesperson for Wawa, said Friday morning. "We are working on a way to get bottled water to them to utilize as well. Our store teams are doing their best to connect locally with the police and authorities to determine how best to support their ongoing needs."
The cause of the fire remains unknown. It is also not known what kinds of fire suppression systems were installed in the warehouses.
It is not known how many businesses have been affected by the blaze, or if there has been any damage to the adjacent Somerset County Emergency Services complex, which includes the Somerset County Police Academy.
In addition to the four large multi-tenant warehouses, there are smaller warehouse buildings on the site. It is not known if any of those suffered damage.