A brick firewall from a building under construction in downtown Fanwood collapsed on top of an older, more fragile building next door on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 15, 2007, causing the older building to collapse and trapping three people inside.

The Livingston Wilbor Corporation, a machine shop, was destroyed. Two men, company owner Garry Wilbor and an employee were trapped under tons of concrete, metal and wood for almost an hour before firefighters and a special rescue team freed them. Both were airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick with non-life threatening injuries. They were conscious and talking with rescuers the entire time. Another employee got out virtually without a scratch after the ceiling came down around her. She walked out with the help of firefighters and was driven home from the scene by her husband. A fourth individual also escaped under his own steam.

Construction on the new building was immediately halted. An investigation into the cause of the collapse was launched by federal, state and local officials. Attention immediately focused on the firewall and whether it was adequately fastened to the superstructure of the building under construction. Investigators from the U.S. Occupational, Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), Union County Prosecutor Thomas Romankow and regional building inspectors were among those at the scene.

The Fanwood Rescue Squad and Fire Department were there within minutes of the collapse, which occurred just before 2pm at 238 South Avenue. Paramedics from Mercy 6 were also on scene immediately and coordinated the care of the victims as they were extricated from the rubble. The first-in responders were quickly backed up by Union County emergency management personnel including fire Mutual Aid Command (MAC) and the NJ EMS Task Force. Fire departments from as far away as Bayone and Jersey City responded. Rescue squads from Scotch Plains, Plainfield, Elizabeth, Summit, Cranford and Clark responded.

Once the injured men were removed from the scene, the Fanwood Rescue Squad’s primary focus shifted to keeping firefighters and other emergency responders healthy, providing water, blood pressure checks and any other medical assistance.

The Scotch Plains Rescue Squad moved both their rigs to our building where they covered EMS calls in both Fanwood and Scotch Plains until 11pm. The response from our members was tremendous. Many hearing about the collapse at work, on the radio or after they arrived home either called in or simply showed up at the scene. Thanks to all of our volunteers who stepped up for this major emergency.

COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Despite vaccinations, increased testing and decreased hospitalizations, the virus and its variants are still with us and will be well into 2021, if not beyond. Transporting patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 is still a reality for EMS and still requires vigilance on our part. PPE is still a requirement before entering a home or transporting a patient with suspected COVID-19 and decontaminating the ambulance after the transport is an absolute must.

Captain Ian Lewis demonstrates the decor procedure in this video. It’s worth a refresher if you’ve never done it or haven’t done it in a while.

The months-long rehabilitation of Ambulance  579 was declared a success on January 5, 2021, by Sgt. Ed Winsor who oversaw the project. The rig suffered a serious mechanical failure in April 2020, and the membership voted to rechassis it rather than replace it. The process involved removing the “box”, or patient compartment from its 10-year-old van chassis and remounting on a new van chassis with a more reliable, cheaper to maintain gasoline engine. This process resulted in a nearly new ambulance for approximately a third of the cost of a new ambulance.

The ambulance was towed to Siv Ambulances in Langhorne, PA, where Sergio Siv and his team of skilled craftsmen remounted it on a 2021 van chassis.  We are extremely happy not only with the quality of Sergio’s work but his attitude and work ethic and those of his craftsman.  Ambulance 579 has been first due since it came back, including through the recent snow and we are very pleased with its performance. 

Thanks go to Mattie of H’s Towing for getting our ambulance down to Langhorne.
Special thanks go out to the Borough of Fanwood, for working with us to use their Ford Fleet Code; Ora Schiff, retired from the Port Authority, for her knowledge of vehicle procurement; and to Alex Jowa, of AJ Engineering, for his knowledge of the Ford QVM program and his insight into the process.