The City of Wildwood is located on the Eastern Shore of New Jersey, approximately 40 miles south of Atlantic City. Wildwood is a seashore resort with a winter population of 6,000 and a summer population that swells to over 200,000 residents and visitors and encompasses 1.2 square miles in the center of a five-mile-long island. Wildwood is bordered by Wildwood Crest to the south, North Wildwood to the north and West Wildwood to the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders on the east.

The Wildwood City Fire Department consists of a career division of 18 members who work a four-platoon, four-person shift and operate a 75-foot quint as the first-due engine and two basic life support (BLS) ambulances. Every career firefighter is certified as a Firefighter I, emergency medical technician and New Jersey Certified Fire Inspector. The career division handles all initial fire incidents and emergency medical calls within the city. The fire department also has two volunteer stations, with 30 volunteer firefighters who respond when required with three additional engine companies and a ladder company. The department responded to more than 3,100 incidents in 2002.

Passerby Reports Fire

On Dec. 1, 2002, at 5:01 P.M., the Wildwood City Fire Department received a report of a building fire at 110 West Garfield Ave. Weather conditions that day were winds at approximately 25-35 mph and a temperature of 28 degrees. The initial report was received from a passerby who walked into the Wildwood Police Department reporting "smoke from a building."

Initially, the dispatch center notified the "on-duty" crew of Engine Company 38. Fire headquarters is located about six blocks south of where the fire was being reported. As Engine 38 began responding, the officer in charge, Firefighter Walt Larcombe, noticed a large smoke plume that was visible in the area of the reported fire. Larcombe immediately asked dispatch to fill the box, which notified off-duty career firefighters along with the two volunteer fire stations, Stations 3-1 and 3-2.