More than 40 vehicles were burned in a large blaze at an auto salvage yard in Sewell on March 30, according to Mantua Fire Chief Brian Hauss.
The fire at Marshall’s Towing and Auto Repair – located on Bridgeton Pike between Mantua and Mullica Hill – started around 2:30 p.m. and spread to nearby commercial vehicles, trailers, small outbuildings, brush and woods. It took fire crews about two hours to extinguish the flames, Hauss said. No one was injured.
The blaze also took place in an area of Mantua that has no fire hydrants, according to the fire department’s Facebook page.
“The hardest part about fighting the fire was that there was no guaranteed water source in the area and the fire was approximately 1,000 feet off of the road,” Hauss explained. “Harrison Township Fire District Chief 2301 (Matthew Cardile) called in a smoke investigation and found numerous vehicles on fire in the rear of the junkyard when he arrived.”
Mantua Fire District Squad 2111 was the first responders to Cardile’s call and arrived within two minutes to an area where trucks could only pull in so far without getting stuck.
“They began attacking the fire and a draft site was set up at the entrance to the junkyard,” said Hauss. “(Water) tenders from Mantua, East Greenwich, Woolwich, Gibbstown and Elk Township assisted in shuttling water to the scene.”
A tender is a tanker that fire companies use to transport water from a source.
Crews from Glassboro, Woodbury and West Deptford also helped extinguish the spreading fires, while firefighters from Pitman and Washington Township covered Mantua’s firefighters at the scene.
The blaze is under investigation by the township fire marshal’s office and a cause has not yet been established. Marshall’s had no comment.
Mantua’s Facebook page posted comments from residents thanking the firefighters.
