On December 4^th at approximately 1500 hours, Car 38 and an Engine from the Ridgewood, NJ. Fire Department was dispatched to a small brush fire on the railroad tracks that ran along Goffle Road in Ridgewood. The Shift Commander in Car 38 arrived quickly and began utilizing a water can to extinguish the fire, which was located near a switch along the tracks. Upon hitting the switch with water, an abnormal amount of steam and such was noted to be coming off this switch. As this was occurring, a Maintenance Worker from the NJ Transit (who was working in the area) arrived on the scene and advised the Captain not to use water in the extinguishments of this fire. The reason for this statement was, during the winter months NJ Transit no longer uses gas to heat this switch, but has begun to use electricity of at least 240 volts. The change to electric units was instituted this year in Ridgewood, NJ. and will continue where it has not been changed already. The Maintenance worker also commented, that if the insulation on the wires were to become compromised, the rail could become energized.

The lesson here may be that as the infrastructure of New Jersey’s mass transit system gets overhauled there may be a breakdown of communication in who needs to be notified of changes. Such changes, if not expected, can create additional hazards to not only Firefighters and other emergency responders, but to the general public as well.

Continually train with outside agencies to stay knowledgeable of the changes being made. Never take ‘normal’ responses for granted.