Firefighters Gave Up Convention Plans To Assist in Seaside Park Blaze
By Steve Tawa
WILDWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- When the call went out for "mutual aid" to fight the massive boardwalk fire last night in Seaside Park, NJ, that call reached Cape May County, where firefighters left a statewide convention in Wildwood to lend a hand.
Rather than checking out new equipment and technology at the Wildwoods Convention Center, Cape May County fire crews responded like the cavalry and hauled equipment up the Jersey coastline.
Wildwood Crest firefighters Fred Mettler and Steven Thompson tossed aside their flip-flops and bermuda shorts, suited up, and met other crews at the Oceanview rest stop.
They reported to a staging area in Tuckerton to cover for other local crews already on scene. Their caravan included ten pieces of equipment from Cape May and about 40 firefighters.
Firefighter Mettler says that's what mutual aid is all about. In his words, "They'll be down here if we need 'em."
