Nor’easter tests mettle of N. J. first responders
Homeless after Sandy, volunteers still head to work
BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ. — John Frankowski’s bay side home was badly flooded during superstorm Sandy, and he lost two cars in his garage. But as a nor’easter dumped a cruel coating of snow here Wednesday, he finished his eight- hour shift as a volunteer firefighter and got ready for his night job as facilities inspector for the school district.
“I’m just so drained,” said Frankowski, 45, who goes by the nickname “Seaside Johnnie.” “But there are people worse off than I am. I been doing this nine years. It’s inmy blood. Plus, it helps take my mind off my own situation.”
His situation is not unusual in the sodden, shivering Jersey shore towns hit hardest by Sandy. First responders — firefighters, police, ambulance drivers and other emergency personnel — were among the tens of thousands of people whose homes were wrecked, and lives upended.
Here in Brick Township, which includes barrier island communities that were scoured by the storm, at least 10 volunteer firefighters and six police officers saw their homes flooded or worse. Electricity is still out, gas lines have been turned off, and piles of debris line the roads. Officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for waterfront areas before the nor’easter hit, so the shoreline was deserted.
The homeless first responders still show up for work every day. One volunteer firefighter made the commute easy by moving his wife and young son into a borrowed recreational vehicle and parking it next to the Pioneer Hose Company fire station. Others stay at the station, where they sleep on cots and eat meals prepared by the ladies auxiliary, a local support group.
Most firefighters in central and southern NewJersey are unpaid volunteers. Many haven’t seen a paycheck since Sandy— which hit Oct. 29— wiped out the businesses and shops that provide their day jobs.
The men at Pioneer Company, which has three fire engines, call themselves “the fighting 22,” because it’s Station 22, and as snow fell in thick flakes, it felt as if theywere at war with the elements.
“It’s a volunteer company getting a city- size call volume with the same guys running the trucks 24 hours,” said Anthony Cozzino, 39, a father of two whose home was damaged in the storm.
Just then, a fire alarm clanged. A truck headed into the bone- chilling cold.
Michael Berger, 54, vice president of the company, says his firefighters have risen to the challenge. “As we say here at Pioneer Company, we got this,” Berger said.
That’s the motto they hung in the gear room. This being New Jersey, the sign says, “We got dis.”
They lived by that dictum those first few harrowing days after Sandy hit, when they rescued people using bucket trucks and row boats. They fought electrical fires as floodwaters rose around them and raced out again and again as pleas for help poured into the station.
Over the past few days, reinforcements showed up — firefighters from nearby towns, as well as New Jersey National Guard troops and state police from Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan. People sent food from South Carolina, pizzas from Connecticut.
The chief ordered his firefighters to take a break. Most refused.
“We love our town,” said Berger. “We’re going to try to get through this storm, put a Band- Aid on things, and try to heal.”
As the day wore on, the nor’easter hammered the coast further north, knocking out power to some areas where it had been restored.
More than 1,000 flights in and out of airports in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Newark were canceled due to the storm, according to the website NYCAviation. com.