Edison firefighters run state-mandated live-burn drill simulating Amboy Avenue laundromat fire

Edison Division of Fire officials ran a state-mandated live-burn training exercise this week at the town’s fire academy, simulating a laundromat fire called in by an upstairs tenant, Chief Toad said.

The exercise recreated a storefront laundromat with apartments above and involved multiple engine and truck companies arriving in a rolling response, Battalion Chief Enfield said. “Members of our division, the men and women, come out so they can hone their skills and practice in a controlled environment,” Chief Toad said.

The training is intended to give crews experience with high heat and low visibility conditions that they said are difficult to replicate outside a controlled burn. Enfield described the scenario as a laundromat fire on Amboy Avenue that would be reported by a resident upstairs; for the drill he temporarily played the dispatcher role so crews could rehearse radio communications and unit coordination.

Crews were given orders to force entry to the alpha (front) door, stretch attack lines and establish water supply. Command reports during the exercise noted fire showing in multiple divisions and a coordinated primary search. “Primary search to all three floors is positive,” a command voice said, and EMS handled the victims removed during the drill.

Officials reported four simulated victims removed during the exercise. Enfield said the department has 143 career personnel and scheduled two live burns each morning and two each afternoon during the training window so all crews rotate through the scenarios. Chief Toad also thanked Middlesex County Fire Marshal Gallagher and his assistant, Bobby Minkler, and said Hackensack Meridian stood by as a backup resource.

After each burn, crews hold a group debrief to discuss performance and identify improvements, Enfield said, calling the exercise a training tool the public does not usually see. Officials characterized the on-scene event shown in the drill as controlled and state-mandated; no actual civilian or firefighter injuries were reported in the transcript of the exercise.