Water pressure, materials challenges in North Brunswick, NJ fire

🔥It took firefighters over 6 hours to bring the warehouse fire under control

🔥An earlier water main break reduced available water pressure to the area

🔥The fire continued to smoulder into Thursday

NORTH BRUNSWICK — Firefighters from all over brought an 8-alarm fire in a warehouse where mattresses and other combustible materials are stored despite water pressure challenges.

The fire was reported around 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Dream Well warehouse on Georges Road. Smoke was so heavy it was visible on weather radar during the early stages of the fire.

A water main break in the area hampered firefighting efforts with water pressure at less than an ideal level for such a large fire, North Brunswick police Capt. Brian Hoiberg told New Jersey 101.5.

"That's why the tanker task force from the state of New Jersey was activated and we had tankers from all over the state delivering water to us for several hours," Hoiberg said. "I saw Ocean County. I saw Morris County, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth. There were there were a ton of people here."

Fire under control

Hoiberg said the fire was brought under control around 10 p.m. Wednesday night but continued to smolder Thursday despite the rain. The fire was contained to the rear of the building.

Nearby residents who were evacuated were allowed to return their homes around 11 p.m., according to North Brunswick police.

Between 10 and 20 employees were inside when the fire started and tried to put it out but were unsuccessful, according to Hoiberg.

Building filled with material to sustain a fire

The building is filled with the materials used to make mattresses like wood, coils, latex, rubber, cotton and foam. Propane tanks were also found inside the building. No injuries to firefighters or residents were reported.

"The fire building itself is too unsafe to get into, so we're gonna be waiting on some heavy equipment to bring all the materials that are tightly packed in that warehouse out to us so we could finally put it out," Hoiberg said.

Firefighters expected to be at the building for much of Thursday.

Georges Road was reopened to traffic Thursday morning but several surrounding buildings are still closed. still closed.

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