THIRTY-ONE EMERGENCY CALLS KEEP WESTWOOD FIREFIGHTERS BUSY IN SEPTEMBER 2025
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AND REMINDS DRIVERS DON’T PARK ON LEAVES
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The Westwood Fire Department under the command of Fire Chief Brian Kronewitter and the Board of
Fire Officers, was called 31 times for emergency assistance during the month of September 2025. Chief
Kronewitter reports that none of the calls turned out to be a serious fire in Westwood.
These 31 emergency calls, one drill and two work/maintenance sessions required approximately 320
hours of volunteer time. In addition to the monthly drill, three Westwood firefighters traveled to
Stockton, New Jersey for two days of swift water training. This consisted of one day of an indoor lecture
and one full day of in water training. This training will prove valuable during the flooding that hits the
borough from time to time.
The Westwood Fire Department was called out of town for four mutual aid incidents. Responding to
Hillsdale on two occasions and twice to River Vale.
Various causes set off automatic fire alarms which were received fourteen times in September.
Although no fires existed at any of these incidents, a full fire department response is required.
Firefighters check the entire building to determine if an actual fire exists. Six times alarm system
malfunctions required the fire department to respond. Aerosol cleaning spray too close to a smoke
detector and spray painting inside an occupancy caused three activations. Smoke from cooking caused
five responses. Alarm system malfunctions caused four incidents. An unintentional alarm box pulled and
a contractor in a building caused two emergency calls.
Five calls were for natural gas emergencies, the fire department responded and investigated each. No
gas was found on four occasions. Slight readings were found at one gas odor call. Westwood Fire
Department standard policy is to turn these problems over to Public Service gas technicians for further
investigation.
On four occasions Carbon Monoxide (CO) calls were received. Readers are reminded that CO is an
odorless and colorless gas caused by malfunctioning heating or cooking equipment among other causes.
It can be lethal at high levels. Again, each of these calls require a full fire department response. Fire
crews check the entire building with meters. No CO readings were found at two incidents. At two
others the CO buildup was caused when workers operated a gasoline powered rotary saw inside the
building.
A citizen smelling smoke in the area in one borough neighborhood, requiring a fire department
response, turned out to be a backyard smoker. Fire crews were called to water leaking onto an electrical
panel. Firefighters shut the water source checked the electrical equipment and turned the building over
to the superintendent. A gasoline spill caused when a gas can was mistakenly run over by a vehicle
required fire rescue crews to respond and apply absorbent material to prevent it from catching fire.
The Westwood Fire Department and Fire Prevention Bureau would like to remind readers that the
autumn season is in full swing. We all would like a few more weeks of warm weather but the leaves are
starting to fall off the trees and need to be raked to the curb. The Westwood Department of Public
Works does a great job picking up the leaves but they do stay on the streets for a period of time.
Firefighters urge residents never to park on these leaf piles. Many car fires have started by heat from
mufflers and catalytic converters on cars igniting these leaf piles. The fire then extends to the cars
resulting in a family car being destroyed.
This article was submitted by the Westwood Fire Department. Any Fire Department related questions
can be e-mailed to wwfdchief@westwoodnj.gov or by calling 201-664-0526. The fire prevention bureau
can be reached at dblankenbush@westwoodnj.gov or by calling 201-664-7100 ext 308. PLEASE NOTE;
THESE PHONE NUMBERS ARE BUSINESS/NON-EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS, FOR FIRES/EMERGENCIES
CALL 911.