Church Fire Mishap Prompts Inspection Of Dozens Of Fire Hydrants In South Jersey

By Cleve Bryan

MILLVILLE, NJ – Following a weekend church fire, Millville's public works commissioner is reassigning every possible employee to checking the city's fire hydrant system.

Commissioner David Ennis says the fire hydrant closest to Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church on Rt. 49 didn't work when fire crews initially needed it on Sunday morning.

"I'm not sure exactly why it wasn't functioning but our responsibility at this point is to make sure in the future, if a fire does erupt, that we have the capability of putting the fire out," Ennis said Tuesday after learning crews were able to complete about 40 inspections on Monday.

He says it will take 2-3 weeks to complete the testing.

The fire at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist started when strong winds blew a tree onto power lines and caused a transformer to explode.