Two-for-One. Shed Fire in Wayne Spreads to Neighbor’s Garage

WAYNE, NJ – On Saturday late afternoon, a fire started in a shed on Ford Street in Wayne, and it quickly spread to a neighbor’s garage on Ryerson Ave before the volunteers of Wayne’s Fire Companies #1 and #2 arrived to make quick work of the climbing flames and extinguished the fire.

It was originally reported as a garage fire, but Wayne Fire Commissioner Frank Velardi explained that when Chief of Company #1, Greg Laskowski arrived on scene, he realized that the fire had started elsewhere.

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“It was dispatched as a garage fire,” said Velardi, “But when the Chief arrived, he realized that the shed behind the garage was on fire and it had spread to the neighboring garage.”

The two properties’ back yards are adjacent with the shed in one yard separated from the garage in the other yard by a white fence. The fire, which is being investigated by the Wayne Fire Bureau, likely spread with the help of the wind that had just started to pick up, according to Velardi.

“It was pretty nice on Saturday afternoon,” he said, “and then it seemed like the minute we had the fire, the wind started picking up. So, that didn't the help the cause, and probably assisted in the spread of the fire actually.”

When Velardi arrived, he said the flames “were a pretty good size,” and were coming from both the shed and “rolling out the garage door when we got there.”

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Generally, two of Wayne’s fire companies are dispatched to a reported fire, and if the confirmation comes of a “working” fire, a third company is called. But when Incident Commander Chief Laskowski was asked, he turned down the help, saying that they could handle the fire with what they had on scene - according to Velardi.

Laskowski sent one company to attack the flaming garage, and the other to come around to the neighbor’s yard and take on the fire in the shed. The strategy worked. Wayne’s Bravest had both fires knocked down within minutes.

No one was injured, and the volunteers who responded had the entire scene wrapped up in about an hour. The origins of the fire are currently under investigation.

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