Upper Saddle River, NJ FD Multiple Alarm Fire 10/16/22

[@johnkennedy3867]

As a former volunteer, I can relate to the feeling of total helplessness I had when water was the issue

[@jenn053]

So sad, such a beautiful home. Prayers for the owners.

[@markthompsoncpa]

Looks more like an apartment building.

[@Kevin-wj4ed]

I believe that in residential housing if you have a sprinkler system and your walls are made of 2 sheets of type x drywall you would have a much safer house!

[@berubecrew431]

Hi, never happen in residential housing. won't spend the money.

[@marktemplin1159]

Sadly the only worth while sprinkler system is black iron pipe, which is extremely expensive,, which if I had $ to build a home like that,🤔 I might fit into the budget🤔👍 but most fire sprinkler systems are plastic pipe, 4 hour slow burn ,1)2 hour hot burn,,, it meant to slow the fire lo g enough for People to get out of the building,, not save the building from the fire,,,, fire is incredibly un forgiving,, it destroys,,, ashes is all that is left,,,, now I agree in big fancy homes,, those got $ to bud such, should double 5/8 dry wall all ceilings, max out walls and ceiling of any attached garage,,, thick heavy walls of non flammable materals seperating the various areas of the building is common In commercial buildings,,, now a little modest home is different,, but big fancy ones, built for those with $,, if they arnt smart enough to out the $ in the correct areas🤔🤔 who I'm I to tell them how to spend thier $,,, 🤔🤔🤔😎😎🤘👍

[@davidglaum2538]

Looks like a tanker truck fire just not enough water. I never understood why people would build a home in a place that doesn’t have a good water supply.

[@kither04]

We pay a decent amount of money for homeowners because we have ZERO water source. We chose to live rurally and enjoy every second. A neighbors house burnt to the ground years back. It is just something we understood buying rurally and we accept it.

[@matsulli2086]

Bet those young firemen working without water aren't enjoying every second

[@virgilhilts3924]

Because not everyone wants to live in a city or town I'm a retired firefighter that worked in a metro of ~1 million The first thing we did when my FD lifted it's residency requirement was MOVE We live high up in a rural mountain community where our home is surrounded by national and state forrest Not a hydrant for about five miles and do not worry about it one bit Another thing to consider, in an average year ~0.22% of homes report a fire, anything from a wastebasket to fully involved Of those, in just over 80% of incidents the fire is contained to the room of origin And about 80 of the remaining the fire is contained to two rooms

[@gregsatterly9412]

Some people such as myself absolutely hate city life and want to live where they have room. I live in the country and we don't have hydrants. Water is shuttled in. Me personally I installed a water source just in case. Even though I am on county water I has a well drilled with a 8 inch head with a booster pump that puts out 1700 gpm.

[@OldLordSpeedy]

This looks as it is in the U.S.A. They do it same the rich Philippines and love to use tanker and not big water pipes under the ways for cars. Then they forgets a water well with pump too. They can't buy big water tanker before too if they know they could have this problem e.g. wood, rual, no pipes, hard fire burning ground, asf. If I runs out of water as firefighter team then I have had a big problem *before* the houses stay in flames!

[@apc6446]

A BBQ was left going accidentally. Owners were out at the time, had forgotten about the BBQ. The fire was fairly advanced before it was noticed by neighbors.

[@kevinlynch1227]

YOU CANT FORGET ABOUT A BBQ????? or to check the stove and things before leaving ... or you could lose uour whole house!!!

[@michaelmoore2202]

I am glad to hear that there were no injuries. The Fire depts should have not bothered unless the goal was to save the basement.

[@JPF941]

except for the experience gained. Sorry but even lost causes like this teach both crews and leaders. You may not like it, but these crews will be better for the next one because of this one.

[@414s4]

I’ve heard this FD has never lost a foundation.

[@choppermike3329]

Could you imagine the negative input they would receive if they did nothing. That's not what we are about.

[@michaelmoore2202]

@@choppermike3329 Based on what I saw, there was a lot of very expensive taxpayer funded equipment that was not used to save the home. I am sure there is a back story but unsure of what that was.

[@choppermike3329]

@@michaelmoore2202 That house, unfortunately was completely gone from the start of the video. I don't know what happened before the video but when the roof is gone and the flames go from the floor to the roof throughout the structure, it is a total loss and nothing can be done to save it.

[@gregadomeit4020]

I hope everyone got out ok and there was no injuries. Having to tanker all the water there was no chance for a good outcome. Makes you think the rural residents should have sprinklers system attach to there water system. As in the well the house water ame from.

[@hosedragger-204]

Depends on how well practiced the departments are in tanker shuttle ops. Here in my area that's what supplies the water at 99% of building fires and when a possible building fire call goes out, the department who's area it's in automatically calls for tankers from neighboring towns and gets them rolling before they themselves are even on scene. That way as they arrive on scene, their continued water supply arrives within minutes of them initially arriving

[@briansmyla8696]

@@hosedragger-204 Even with an effective and efficient tanker shuttle, you're only going to be able to supply 2000gpm at best. That fire needed much more to extinguish. Back in the late 80s / early 90s when I was a firefighter, we actually performed drills to demonstrate how much water we could flow with tanker shuttles. 2000 gpm could not be sustained with 20 tankers and a 2 mile shuttle from a water point.

[@usaveteran1813]

What happens when you have a lot of fire and very little water.

[@larrymoore326]

Protect expossures. That includes woods fires,which can spread horribly fast in certain conditions.

[@KG-yn9qi]

No water that sucks! People need to take that kind of thing into concern when building in a area like that ! Maybe build a holding tank near by for this kind of thing. by the time they get water the home so far gone should just let it burn out on its own! Less clean up! Save the water! Sad they had no plan for this when built!

[@thatgurlyana8964]

Just for all their hard working they deserve to get $100,000,000,000

[@ryanbenny4490]

The fact that there were no hydrants available suggests to me that there is no municipal water supply in this area which means that each of these homes has their own well. I don't know of too many residential wells that could handle a sprinkler system for a building of that size.

[@wilsjane]

Sprinklers do not work that way. A system may have 100 heads, but the pipework and pump are only designed to supply 5 or 10 of them at any one time. The idea is for the sprinkler heads that activate to put the fire out and save the house, not flood the entire building.

[@peterarvanitis6497]

Excellent job on the video Mike keep up the good work

[@MikeDMC2]

Update: the foundation was saved !!!!

[@kentcarter835]

What an original and hilarious comment. 🙄

[@davidcurtis5398]

House was gone before they arrived. No point in getting water on the fire until it had burned most of the fuel up and all the insides were down.

[@rexmayn3171]

Perhaps you should build your next little Buckingham Palace where there are fire hydrants.

[@rajun1231]

A house of that size and value and seemingly no fire suppression system. I thought it odd to see a clothes line rack in the backyard.

[@briansmyla8696]

clothes line rack - solar / wind powered clothes dryer. eco friendly. I grew up in Bergen County back in the 70s, and have ties to the local fire departments in the area. Brings back memories.

[@frankboris1237]

I DID ALSO.

[@atqmra13]

Don’t know if they had a pool but the clothesline may have been for hanging their towels

[@robertbrady9597]

awesome video

[@Aprilsraven629]

If you spend millions building a home, spend time on fire suppression...sprinklers, alarms, fire proof walls and doors, water tanks with fire brigade fittings ( Mandatory in all New Builds in Australia) ....

[@shaofuchang515]

If on arrival the working fire has already moved both floors and vented like this... There's not much can be done, protect your exposures and watch out for a collapse. You can have the best equipment and manpower in the world, if there's no water source you're at the mercy of how soon the tender can get up there from wherever its dispatched out of. Total grim helplessness. The fact they put such a large structure here without a hydrant is an irritating reminder of what development and township could allow to jeopardize the safety of its inhabitants.

[@arrowkart4j]

Was getting water a problem? apparently it was a problem. A high-end neighborhood and you got no water to fight a fire, something's wrong

[@briansmyla8696]

Mountainous terrain. Yes, water is a problem there.

[@vanessahuman7607]

Beautiful house hope everyone is ok

[@LakesRegionEmergencyPhoto]

This is some wild footage.

[@pauludulutch4353]

Well contained with in the confines of those big fancy brick walls. Say goodbye.

[@Summerguy24]

I'm sure the homeowners appreciate your comment. SMH.

[@pauludulutch4353]

@@Summerguy24 they may! A house that big sure went up fast!

[@anmlrsqnj]

I will say that people really need to look up these fires before commenting. Usually something this big will be in the news in some form. I found multiple articles and they answered a lot of questions asked on here. Not sure why ya'll respond so negatively to firefighters. Try this, look up 34 Hillside Ave Upper Saddle River, NJ mansion fire. You will see what I am talking about.

[@peteresposti3490]

if you don't have fire hydrants you need to practice the water shuttle operations!

[@Brian13549]

you or I weren't there so Noone knows what really happened maybe the closest water source was far away and being a volunteer department it takes time to get trucks there.

[@rogerdehaven5603]

If you can afford a house like this you can afford a sprinkler system. 🇺🇸

[@Summerguy24]

You obviously don't have a clue what residential sprinkler systems cost. and the fact that the FD was having water supply issues needs me to believe there isn't infrastructure to support one anyway.

[@matsulli2086]

Build a little less castle and add a fire suppression or sprinkler system!

[@rogerdehaven5603]

@@Summerguy24 Karen if they can afford a house like this they can afford one. You must be crazy to believe different.

[@PeaceToAll-sl1db]

or don't build it out of cheap wood

[@CommandFireApparatus]

@@Summerguy24 A residential sprinkler system might be less than 1-2% the cost of this home. Most critically, the fire started in one room, in one place. A 15 GPM sprinkler head operating at the ignition point of this fire would have prevented this loss. Even the most basic well water supply can operate a 13D system. It is possible to have a dedicated water source in the basement or other area just to supplement the sprinkler if it activates.

[@2olvets443]

If I had that kind of money I would make sure there was a sprinkler system in place. There must be ways to have it hidden until needed.

[@SocialistDistancing]

There wasn't much left to save. All that was left was the hazard of brick walls collapsing. Almost a waste of effort to save rubble.

[@jimjamess8633]

Exactly my thoughts. House was a total loss when the first engine pulled up. At that point, protect the exposers and let it go. Less demolition cost to clean up.

[@toddayres7298]

One WORD........ Hydrants......... It is worth the extra money in taxes since your insurance will drop when your city goes from an ISO rating of 10+ to a 5. This same thing occurred to a historic building near a city I worked for. Within 2 years the entire community had hydrants. After looking around the city on Google earth it looks like these people could afford it. If hydrants are out of the question then establish a tanker shuttle water supply immediately. A well organized water supply MABAS can do miracles. A county near me that is all they have and they end up with more water than they know what to do with and it can be set up within minutes. Hambden Fire Nurse Tanker Set Up. Check out this video. This young lady was 17 at the time. Best of luck in this community and please stay safe.

[@pinocircular9913]

I suspect a complete write-off of this once a beautiful structure. I also suspect that an insurance company would have a very difficult time in justifying the underwriting of a claim of this magnitude due to the development in an area of the municipality not able to deliver water infrastructure to hydrants. I also would suspect a exhaustive investigation into the cause of this fire.

[@TheMimiof7]

My insurance company required that I provide them with the distance between my house and a fire hydrant. I worked in emergency management and everyone needs to be prepared for a worse case scenario. I would like to learn more about the lack of water. So very sad……

[@briansmyla8696]

Insurance companies base their rates partly on the insurance rating of the local fire department. Yes, every fire department has an insurance rating number that is carefully calculated based on various factors. You can be sure that the insurance premium was accurate for the department rating. The claim was likely paid without question, provided there was no evidence of fraud.

[@TheHonarable1]

Can someone tell me what the different color helmets mean?

[@toupac3195]

Holy crap. So something with a lithium battery plugged in exploded? Yeah I was a bat Chief through 2009. Life was boring until batteries from across the pond were a thing.

[@eaperras9754]

At one point There were eight firefighters standing around back of the residence. What are you guys waiting on if anything do a defensive attack

[@my2cents945]

why apply water so late in the program? might as well let it burn to the ground and save the owner on demo costs. not even saving the foundation on that one.

[@larrymoore326]

The fire ground commanding officer should order no persons with in 75 to 100 ft of structure. Due to wall collapse potential. Otherwise good job !

[@jimmyd277]

They’re not even putting water on the fire. And there’s water in the hoses. I know those short supply water but seriously.

[@bdanielcal4608]

Upper saddle river is a very rich area alot of actors and pro athletes live there

[@Backnine907]

Now that's what we call a "ripper"

[@millennial9252]

Insurance job?

[@anmlrsqnj]

Accidental don't start rumors. Better yet research the fire for better understanding.

[@stevenjoyce9414]

No amount of water was going too save the house it was fully involved most you could do was protect the surrounding areas

[@cjsk45]

Terrifying. The whole woods could have caught fire.

[@tomlorenzen4062]

ffs

[@ericschmidt7359]

Should have a tanker task force in place for rural Bergen county.

[@Brian13549]

They probably do but it takes time to set up

[@anmlrsqnj]

Hey I have an idea, how about you do something called research and you will find out that they have a a tanker task force which was activated.

[@jenbrixton6834]

So so sad 😔

[@matthewcarey4503]

not the homeowners fault, its the cities fault. how do you not have a single functional water source in a residential area? even then, how do you not put tankers on the 1st alarm box for that zone. Rockland county is to blame here

[@390rambler]

LOL it was in Bergen County! But You're right! What I like to know is why there's so many fires in the last 20 or so years? Especially in the Monsey area

[@highline64]

Why to all NJ fires end up looking like this?🤔

[@jrzerelocatedpatriots3862]

Training is lacked. Too many Volunteer FD’s companies.

[@jimzplace]

A bunch of fire fighters watching a fire...... with no water. This is called a burnout. They simply let it burn to the ground.

[@edloeffler9769]

It is a very empty feeling having such a large volume of fire with no water. This, most likely was a volunteer fire dept. area, which means it takes time to collect the adequate amount of personnel and equipment to fight a blaze of this size. I would hope that a tanker task force would have been in place to bring a lot of water to the scene, but again it takes time, and those recourses may have to travel a long distance to get there. All in all, this was a very sad fire and I pray that no one was hurt or killed.

[@toddbane4754]

Pretty ignorant statement

[@edloeffler9769]

I am sorry that you are offended by anything that I commented on but, being a volunteer firefighter for 38 years in a Buffalo, NY suburb, and being an Asst. Chief, I KNOW the feeling. I also KNOW that the volunteer fire service is nothing like it used to be. First of all, there are not the people willing/able to donate their time as in years past. Second, the training requirements are much higher for 'black hat' firefighters and officer training is much more involved than just being a buddy of the majority of members (though this still does happen in some departments). Third, for several volunteer dept.'s, members are older and not able to maintain 'interior' fire status forcing them to use defensive (surround and drown) style of firefighting. This ultimately results in more water damage to contents.

[@edloeffler9769]

I am very sorry for the loss of your two firefighters, I truly am.

[@davidward3147]

Hey Chief… whatta we do ? I dunno

[@anmlrsqnj]

Ohh don't get me started with the Cop jokes....lol.

[@marktemplin1159]

On these big fancy homes,, to much to burn,, to much air in the huge extravagant attic area to create the roof lines,,,, NFPA should include double 5/8 on houses this large between any living space and open air attic spaces,,, 🤔👍 any fire fighters out there know how these big homes burn after they have a min to get fully Invloved,,,, slow down the fire rate between living space and open air attics will give fire fighters the time to slow the burn,,, 2 hours,,, minimum,,,

[@billmiller3425]

They're gonna need a new roof.

[@Kevin-wj4ed]

Time for a new house!

[@pompouspilot7058]

A lot of people just standing around

[@ScottishNSRailFan]

Stick built what do you expect?

[@keithbarton9499]

It must really suck to find only the foundation of your multi million dollar mansion is the only thing left, because there was no fire hydrants any where close to your home.

[@oneGypsy]

Insurance.

[@tripfall224]

you can always tell an insurance job.

[@garynielsen4385]

Nothing to save by the time they got water on it.

[@spankylalaverture1151]

Woulda saved the owner a lot of demo costs if you just stayed away

[@sgtcompton8838]

This is why it is important to do hydrant tests quarterly! The fact they lost all water pressure is a disgrace to the community.

[@Brian13549]

Probably no hydrants in that area and by the drop tanks I see, I'm going to say I'm right.

[@dug2fire]

They’re aren’t hydrants everywhere. That said communities with tax bases like this are absolutely ripping off their citizens by not having them and at least combination fire departments.

[@Sev22suff]

Go back to city where you have hydrants!!!! Seems like you forgot that there are areas of this country where hydrants don’t exist

[@sgtcompton8838]

@@Sev22suff this is in one of the richest areas in NJ, so sit down of course I know there are rural areas in this country that done have hydrants!

[@Sev22suff]

@@sgtcompton8838 rich community still can’t not have hydrants, and it seems I struck a nerve calling you a city boy. Also it’s don’t not done. Any 7 year old can hook up a hydrant

[@douglasharmer4694]

Wow all those firefighter & trucks & no water. After the house is totally destroyed they start pouring all kinds of water on it. Also more trucks & men arrive

[@thomasboyd6242]

Sure seems like a loooooong time to get the wet stuff on the red stuff! Hope it wasn’t any editing. Lots of standing around and not many master streams being used. Interesting way to fslowly fight a fire!

[@Brian13549]

Well pretty hard when you don't have hydrants in the area and no established water supply and have to use tankers that takes time.

[@Sev22suff]

It’s called no hydrants in the local.

[@thomasboyd6242]

@@Sev22suff well then they should reverse lay into the fire scene! Still very poor firefighting and planning and training from what was shown!

[@Sev22suff]

@@thomasboyd6242 you can even put down a rural hitch but that still doesn’t solve the issue of not having enough water on scene on the initial. Not to mention having to establish fill sites and plenty of porta tanks on the ground to keep constant water flowing. Rural operations require more thinking ahead than just grabbing a hydrant that any 7 year old can hook up to

[@thomasboyd6242]

@@Sev22suff that’s exactly what I was saying!!!

[@lili2u405]

Sadly, that house was already a goner!

[@rljrl]

This fire had a very early head start. Not much the fire dept. could do.

[@staciewarren7450]

Do you know the cause of the fire? 😢

[@leightongalleries6057]

No one EVER replies to these questions.

[@roychivers8134]

MICE WITH MATCHES...😄😂😆🤣😁

[@JuniorFan08]

I'm guessing that because the house was completely destroyed that they will never find a cause.

[@anmlrsqnj]

From what I read it is believed to be accidental. Nothing to indicate it was intentional.

[@JS-zb1vv]

I see the problem!!! To many white helmets!!

[@johngee5817]

Nothing they could do with that too far gone its just and big oven now

[@frankanddanasnyder3272]

Burnt critter..fire depth did nothing...

[@davidrichardson6370]

That was a big house

[@gwenhenson4883]

Was this a controlled burn.

[@susanjones7185]

No fire hydrants ???

[@gold__tv]

Жалко дом

[@patrickshearer856]

couldn't afford the taxes

[@MykelBBY1]

Not in New Jersey anyway. Fer sure!

[@harrybailey2637]

This is a disgrace. How can you not have water in such a high-income area? Someone needs to be held accountable for this and it is not the Firemen.

[@greenmanofkent]

Baloney. If you have to blame someone, blame the homeowners who built this multi-million dollar palace on a very large lot (more like an estate) where they KNEW there was no water for firefighting. A small community couldn't possibly afford to provide it. If the owners want hydrant services, let them pay for it - if they can afford that mansion, they can afford to have water put in.

[@briansmyla8696]

It is a mountainous area. Water supply is challenging.

[@anmlrsqnj]

This area of the town has WELLS that, wait for it, get water from an underground aquifer, shocking I know right I couldn't believe it either. So when you get water from a well that means you don't have water mains, which means there are no hydrants. You do have a large tanker task force that was immediately activated. Plus you commenting on a video that was shot well past the first arrival of the fire department. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[@shellyschmidt3498]

Was this a training video on how to let a house burn down completly ?

[@rogerdehaven5603]

Did you even watch the video? Guess not since you didn't know what the issue was. 🇺🇸

[@georgebaggitt1930]

When a house is this far gone why waste water and manpower. Keep the firefighters safe is the 1st rule. Just protect the exposures.

[@peterarvanitis6497]

Fully involved in arrival if I remember correctly and they had water issues

[@anmlrsqnj]

@@georgebaggitt1930 Exactly! Firefighters lives and safety come before anything else. Then human life and then property.

[@lc6646]

Why even have a fire dept??????????

[@richardmahan4197]

A higher than normal number of women in those departments.

[@anmlrsqnj]

Ummmm okay and your point is?

[@richardmahan4197]

@@anmlrsqnj It's a good thing.

[@berniesmith9618]

All that equipment but no one thought about WATER. Nice of the tower to decorate the trees for Christmas.

[@anmlrsqnj]

All these words and you have no idea at all about this fire. Do you really believe what you typed? Are you saying that volunteer firefighters and firefighters as a whole are not smart enough to know they need water?

[@PeaceToAll-sl1db]

this is what happens when Americans build their home out of cheap flamable timber - all goes up in flames

[@Gemini_-rb2du]

The home is already burnt to the ground...and by 7:31 a firefighter is trying to start a chainsaw 🤣 wtf!

[@marianneturner7267]

I know right? Lmao! The roof was well vented by flames at that point.

[@jasonmarks1636]

the tree branches. never mind, captain obvious.

[@joefriday1586]

Why did you even bother to show up?

[@bradleywhite9118]

So many people standing around doing bugger all...

[@rd4660]

Another case of a lightning caused fire on a clear sky day. Oops.

[@brucemoyers1006]

Let's take an hour and count the mistakes and the pure waste here.

[@sitirukayah4985]

Zzss

[@carolebelanger8748]

So sad

[@donaldwood9187]

I guess the plan was to let the house burn to the ground. No water. I am sure the house was already lost. But when you have fire....put it out. The forest could have caught on fire. or other homes near by. I for one, do not like the strategy of just letting any house burn down. Didn't put water on it until the house was Gone. They needed to put that much water on the blaze as soon as they got there. They could have saved more of the house. The first thing a fire dept does when going to a fire.....make sure you have enough water. If you don't you get it on the way as soon as you know where the fire is located. With all the equipment they had, and what??? 50 firefighters? And that was a all they could do. I can't accept that they couldn't do anything more.

[@Brian13549]

The area has no hydrants so it takes time to set up a proper water supply. Obviously you don't know anything about fire fighting.

[@anmlrsqnj]

Where and how long you been a firefighter? I'll wait!!!

[@dave1135]

A house this far involved takes a lot of water to put out, and if it was this involved on arrival, it was already lost. No sense wasting resources on it. Most likely they went defensive early on and only protected any nearby structures and protected trees

[@mattteixeira2788]

They needed call tankers like 10 of them

[@mattteixeira2788]

House that size tanker task force needed

[@anmlrsqnj]

It was activated immediately.

[@mattteixeira2788]

We going put water on fire anytime soon