Firefighters from across Warren and Hunterdon counties just after dawn Thursday were able to contain a fire at Harmony Greenhouses to a single structure, despite difficulty getting water to the remote site, Harmony Township's fire chief said.
A large greenhouse that fronts the business was destroyed, but the main building and additional greenhouses that stretch along the side of the business at 822 Harmony Station Road were not badly damaged.
The metal skeleton and a bit of its plastic covering were all that was left of the greenhouse.
Warren County fire Marshal Joe Lake was on the scene and township fire Chief Wes Garrison said the cause as of 7 a.m. blaze was undetermined and remained under investigation. The fire was under control by that point. White smoke could still be seen at that hour from a mile away.
No one was hurt, Garrison said.
Lake said early in the afternoon that it likely will take a few days to determine where in the structure the fire started and the cause of the blaze.
When the first fire crews arrived after the call just before 5 a.m., the greenhouse was fully involved in flames and "heavy, black smoke" was pouring from the structure, Garrison said.
"We entered the main structure to cut the fire off," Garrison said. "We were able to contain it in the initial attack."
But with the nearest fire hydrant three miles away, "lack of water was a serious issue," Garrison said.
Pumpers from across the region responded to ferry water from two hydrants fed by Merrill Creek Reservoir, Garrison said, crediting efforts by crews from other communities with limiting the destruction. The pumpers deposited their water into yellow containment pools on Harmony Station Road and it was fed by hoses a few hundred feet to the fire scene.
"Once we got proper water supply, then we could go after the fire," Garrison said, adding there were "lots of tankers here."
The owner of the business, which is up a long driveway from Harmony Station Road in the rural community, declined to comment, outside of confirming the business name.
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Cardboard and other packaging materials at 7 a.m. were being pulled from the greenhouse by a backhoe as small flames still reached up from the center of the structure. Water was being poured from an aerial truck to reach the remaining fire.
Potential hazardous waste, such as pesticides and other chemicals, weren't in that section of the business, but in a white, more permanent structure to the right from which firefighters began their efforts two hours before. A heating oil tank in front of the greenhouse didn't appear badly damaged.
The greenhouse was covered in plastic, making it a risk as it burned, Garrison said.
In an unofficial accounting, firefighters from Washington Township, Warren County; Pohatcong Township, Oxford Township, Bloomsbury, Allamuchy Township, Mountain Lake, Franklin Township, Phillipsburg, Stewartsville, Good Will, Belvidere and Huntington assisted Harmony firefighters. EMS crews from Phillipsburg and Greenwich were also on the scene. New Jersey State Police were there as well.
"The job was well done containing this fire," Garrison said. "It was a big fire."