Parkway Cell Tower Fire Saturday in Tinton Falls Set Off by Routine Maintenance

Routine maintenance was the cause of Saturday’s fire atop a cell tower along the Garden State Parkway in Tinton Falls at Exit 100B, according to Wayside Fire Company No. 2 CaptainTom Wieczerak.

“The plastic antenna housings and cables were all fully engulfed in fire, and the toxic black smoke left a large downwind plume,” according to an email from Tinton Falls resident Dale Diamond who was driving down the Parkway on Saturday around 1:30 p.m. and took pictures of the flames.

Diamond was driving to Lakewood with his son Matthew and saw what looked like a “fireball” in the sky, according to the email. At first, he thought it was an airplane on fire and saw as he drew nearer that the flames were coming from the top of an approximately 120-foot cell tower at Exit 100B near Route 33.

“They were doing some welding and next thing you know, there’s a fire,” said Wieczerak, who added that the fire broke out around 1 p.m. and was located near the borders of Neptune and Wall. According to the website cellreception.com, the tower is owned by Cingular and is near the Avalon Bay apartments in Tinton Falls.

Wieczerak said approximately 30 firefighters from Tinton Falls, Neptune and Wall were on the scene for almost three hours until the fire was put out.  Aside from the Wayside Co., also represented were Hamilton, Shark River Hills and Unexcelled fire companies in Neptune and Glendola Fire Co. in Wall.

For a seemingly routine fire, Wieczerak said firefighters had to use extreme caution with fire dropping from the tower above and igniting smaller fires below. Workers from Jersey Central Power and Light were also required to ensure that power to the tower’s high voltage lines was off.