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NJ firefighters smash minivan windows to connect hose to hydrant

A video showing the illegally parked vehicle with the hose running through it was posted on Facebook

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Brian Niemietz
New York Daily News

CAMDEN, N.J. — Firefighters in Camden, N.J., weren’t going to let an illegally parked minivan come between them and a house fire.

Video posted on Facebook by the Camden Fire Officers Local 2578 shows a yellow hose that’s been run through the black van’s broken windows to reach a fire hydrant. The van can is parked alongside a curb that’s been painted yellow, warning motorists not to park in front of the Chambers St. hydrant.

Shattered glass is sprinkled all over the cobblestone street under the van.

“The fire was close to extending to the cockloft but firefighters made an excellent stop,” the firefighters union wrote in a caption accompanying the video. “CFD crews had to navigate thru vehicles blocking hydrants during the incident. No occupants or firefighters were injured.”

Running a hose through a car parked in front of a hydrant isn’t unheard of for firefighters. The practice was made famous by the 1991 film “Backdraft,” which includes a scene where a young Billy Baldwin watches in awe as veteran firemen smash car windows with axes so they can stretch their hoses through automobiles parked in fire lanes.

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©2020 New York Daily News

https://www.facebook.com/CFDLocal2578/videos/171792490709330/

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