Fire Rescue News - Mullica Township police officers testify in Egg Harbor City fire official's illegal-burning case

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP — Mullica Township police Officer John Creamer tried to describe Tuesday night why he never filed a full police report on an illegal burning summons he issued in November.

"I never thought it would escalate to this," he told attorney Louis Barbone in court.

Barbone represented Alex Nardone, the code enforcement and longtime fire official in Egg Harbor City, who is charged with.....Continue Reading

 lighting an outdoor fire at his Pleasant Mills Road home without a permit.

Nardone testified he was simply roasting marshmallows with his granddaughter, but Creamer testified Tuesday that when arrived at the house that day he saw no marshmallows, only Nardone standing around the fire, where he said he saw burning trash.

"He said, he doesn't need a permit. 'Don't you know who I am?'" Creamer recalled to prosecutor Michele Verno.

Nardone denied saying that in his testimony. He said he was burning twigs and testified he never sought a permit because he thought a recreational fire is allowable under the state Uniform Fire Code.

That ran counter to testimony from state Forest Fire Service Section Fire Warden Russell Fenton, who talked to Mullica police over the phone the afternoon they were at Nardone's home.

"Any open burning in the state of New Jersey where there is an appointed fire warden requires a permit," said Fenton, who issues permits for the area of Sweetwater, where Nardone lives.

Mullica police Detective Brian Zeck, who was also at the scene with Creamer at about 4 p.m. Nov. 15, said he also believed Nardone had violated the state statute because he had the fire on the ground rather than in an elevated container such as a chimney.

"I advised him that he was warned on previous occasions that he couldn't have a fire and that he should show the police department a little more respect with his demeanor," said Zeck, who testified Nardone raised his voice at them.

But Barbone made the case that the code differentiates between permitted fires and recreational fires, saying that there is conflicting language in the law that governs what fires require permits.

Judge H. Robert Switzer said that the statute, which is separate from the Uniform Fire Code, trumps the code, and therefore he felt the statute was the more important piece.

But, he said, he was still unclear, and said he would make a decision on the case sometime next week.

"I'm going to consider it some more under advisement of the law," he said.

Contact Lee Procida:   609-457-8707   LProcida@pressofac.com