A little after 9:40 a.m. on Sept
2, Bucks security and saftey officers
responded to a massive car
fire in D lot of the Newtown campus.
The car was a 2000 Pontiac
Grand Am and was parked in a
crowded area with many other
cars surrounding it. If the fire had
not been extinguished quickly it
could have destroyed one or more
cars in the area.
A breeze blowing that morning
was pushing the flames toward a
car adjacent to the Grand Am.
The flames from the blaze were
shooting from the hood area and
the rear engine space near the
windshield.”I thought they did a
really fantastic and affective job,
it was an excellent example of
teamwork to get things under control
so quickly,” Director of Security
and Safety Dennis
McCauley said. Associates of the
Newtown Fire department went
on to say, “I was so impressed
with their performance that the
four employees involved were
awarded with written commendations
last week.”
Security officers Blackman and
Strickland acted quickly enough
to keep bystanders and traffic
away from the scene.Assistant director
Moore retrieved a fire extinguisher
from Strickland’s
vehicle and started to contain the
fire, which by this point had almost
swallowed the entire Grand
Am in flames. Blackman was
able to get his hands on another
fire extuingiser and joind the efforts
as soon as he was able.
It took a little while but eventually
the security and safety pers
o n e l
w e r e
sucessful
in getting
the flames
u n d e r
c o n t r o l .
The Grand
Am was
h e a v i l y
damaged,
as expected,
but
their quick
actions in
containing
the fire
h e l p e d
prevent it
from spreading to the vehicles
around it.
“The actions and efforts of our
personel saved at least one if not
two other cars from being a part
of the blaze as well.” McCauley
said.
As the efforts to contain and put
out the fire were ongoing, Officer
Sobek-Allen was leading the
Newtown Fire Department to the
scene. Fortunately, by the time
the fire department had arrived,
the blaze was pretty much out
thanks to the efforts of the security
staff. McCauley was extremely
pleased with his staff with
how they handled the situation.
They were able to get things
under control and able to keep
people as far away as possible
from the situation. Most importantly,
nobody was hurt due to the
fire.