Crews continue to battle a six-alarm fire more than nine hours after it ripped through a Burlington County, New Jersey food warehouse.
The fire broke out at the Dietz & Watson factory on Cooperstown Road in Delanco around 2 p.m. Sunday. Thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from the roof of the facility from miles away.
Fire officials say that the fire is about 30 percent under control and that they expect to battle the blaze into the morning.
There are over 200 firefighters from 28 fire companies across region working to get the fire completely under control. Camden Fire Boat crew also responded to the scene to help create a stretch of a pipeline for water to flow from the Rancocas Creek.
Officials say the fire is currently contained between the trusses and the solar panels on the roof. There have been two explosions so far and at least one wall has collapsed.
“It’s just an intense fire,” said Delanco Fire Chief Ron Holt. “It’s going to take some time and we don’t know what it’s going to do. The problem we have with this fire is the whole roof has solar panels on it, so we can't get on the roof to fight it.”
In 2010, the company installed more than 7,000 solar power modules, which officials claimed would reduce the facility's energy use by nearly 20 percent. Buildings with solar power systems “can present a variety of significant hazards" for firefighters including poor air quality and electrocution, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
"With all that power and energy up there, I can't jeopardize a guy’s life for that,” said Holt.
Fire officials were concerned that the water and foam being using to fight the blaze would cause the roof to collapse. All firefighters were called out of the building as a safety precaution.
“The hazard right now I’m worried about is whether I will have a structural collapse,” said Holt. “If the building collapses, it collapses…it can be replaced I’m not sending a man in to lose a life.”
The Burlington County hazmat team was called to the scene to test the air quality and concluded that there is no hazard at this time. However, residents received a reverse 911 message from the Beverly and Edgewater Park Joint Office of Emergency Management which warned them to stay inside their homes, close their windows and to not breathe in the smoke.
“Unless you’re standing right there and breathing, its dissipating before it hits ground,” said Chief Holt. “That's why we called the health department and hazmat team... (if they say close your window) that's their expertise, that's what I go with.”
There have been no evacuations and no reports of injuries at this time.
Solar panels coupled with pumps that ran out of water also created major hurdles for fire crews. New Jersey American Water asked customers in Edgewater Park, Beverley, and Delanco to limit their water usage as crews battle the blaze.
"Due to the large volumes of water being used by firefighters to tackle the six-alarm blaze, we ask that customers restrict their home water usage until such time as the fire is successfully brought under control. Additionally, you may experience periods of low pressure as we try to direct as much water to the firefighting efforts as possible,” according to Communications Director Peter Eschbach.
“That’s major because (without water) you are not putting the fire out,” said Holt.
The Delanco Riverside Bridge was closed around 7 p.m. Officials did not indicate when it would reopen.
Sandy Iwanicki, who lives near the warehouse, said she initially thought a plane had crashed.
“It looked to me like the kind of scene you would see if a plane crashed the black smoke was immense it was amazing,” said Iwanicki.
Dietz & Watson officials released a statement regarding the fire on their Twitter page.
"Thanks for your thoughts and prayers everyone. Our Delanco, NJ distribution warehouse employees are safe," according to the statement.
The Mayor of Delano called the fire a loss for the town.
“This is a loss for Delanco for all the employees, the economy and what have you…we ‘re going to take care if the firefighters and I just want to thank them all,” said Mayor Kate Fitzpatrick.
Officials say the building was not in operation Sunday. Two security guards were working outside the building.
The distribution center is approximately 300,000 square feet, the size of five football fields.
The company, founded in 1939, opened the center in 2007. It is their main distribution center. They also have processing facilities in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Corfu, New York.