SO SAD: This The End Of The Journey, The Boss Wayne Bennett…

Wayne, New Jersey — Wayne’s bravest responded to a call before 8:30 am on Friday, so they were up and at ’em early. There was a smell of smoke coming from somewhere, and people on White Birch Court in Wayne were appealing for assistance. When the Wayne Fire Department volunteers arrived on scene, they noticed smoke, but they were unable to locate the fire until they used their thermal imaging camera.

The call came in around 8:20am on Friday, April 26, 2024. A house on White Birch Court in Wayne was filling with smoke and the residents had evacuated. Wayne police officers arrived on scene and confirmed a “working fire.”

Wayne Fire Companies #1, #2 and #5 responded, with Chief Mike Payne of #5 coming in as incident commander. When he arrived, he said that there was a “decent smoke condition” coming out of the [open] garage.

In addition, he added, “we could see smoke coming from behind the siding.” Thus, Payne stated, “we knew that the fire was probably in the walls.”

Then, on a second alarm, Company #4 volunteers were contacted.

Payne was correct when he said that the fire was “in the walls,” but it didn’t make it any easier, as the #5 Chief acknowledged that it had been “difficult” to locate. Modern technology did, however, save them some time. The volunteers located the fire by using a thermal-imaging camera to determine the area of concentrated heat.

Payne clarified, “[The fire] was hidden in a wall behind a wood-burning stove.” Thus, it was first very challenging to find. But it was a very quick knock down once we found it.

Firefighters would feel their way up the walls in quest of a greater temperature before this technique was used.

He remarked, “We were able to locate where we thought the fire was using that [technology].” And that’s where the fire was when they broke through the wall. It was hidden because it was blazing inside the wall, between the sheets of rock. It would be invisible to you without the thermal imaging camera. Alternatively, you allowed enough time for [the fire] to emerge from somewhere.