On Feb. 15 Mendham Twp. Police called a working fire into dispatch in the area of number forty Corey Lane. The Mendham Twp Fire Department was dispatched around 1:50am on Saturday. Fire units were advised that it was an unoccupied house under construction.
Mendham Twp. Fire Chief Jack Alderton arrived on scene to find a fully involved structure and asked for mutual aid from Mendham Boro, Chester, and The Northern Mutual Aid Tanker Task Force. Mendham Boro was the first mutual aid company on scene with Ladder 83, Engine 82, and Rescue 85. Chester set up a draft operation in a nearby pond and portable pools were set up at the end of the street. Tankers from New Vernon, Chester, Fairmont, Budd Lake, Portersville, and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service shuttled water. Water flow was established in about twenty minutes. Mendham Boro placed Engine 82 in the next driveway over to protect the neighboring house. Other responding companies were from Bernardsville, Randolph, Morris Township, Peapack-Gladstone, Mount Freedom, and Bedminster.
Units brought the fire under control in about two hours and remained on scene for about 5 hours hitting hot spots. The house was a total loss. Cause of the fire is under investigation.
