August has been a difficult month for Mount Holly’s emergency services, with two separate incidents involving emergency vehicles occurring within days of each other. As previously reported by the Mount Holly Reporter, an America Emergency Squad vehicle was involved in an accident on August 3rd. Then, on August 8, 2026, firefighter Tom Rossell crashed engine number 5012 into a parked pickup in an alley that abuts Garden Street.
Mr. Rossell is a candidate for Fire Commissioner in November’s election.
Captain Rob Allen, who visited the accident scene after the collision is heard on the police body camera saying that Rossell would be “coming off the drivers list”. Allen asked a firefighter on the scene if any warning had been given to Rossell about the impending collision. The firefighter replied that he told Rossell ‘I don’t think you’re going to make that’” The police video also records Allen examining the position of the fire truck relative to the damaged vehicle and the maneuvering space in the alley [See image below]. After examining the scenario, Allen can be heard to say “I don’t know why in the world he ran over to this side”.
The collision was not the only issue involving Engine 5012 that day. According to the body camera footage, Rossell acknowledged to the investigating police officer that the fire engine did not have a valid registration.
George Gaskill, who is also a candidate for Fire Commissioner in this year’s election, has the responsibility of “Chief Apparatus Officer” for the Fire District which includes a responsibility for maintaining documentation. Just three days before the accident, Gaskill indicated that the vehicle was fit for service despite the fact that it lacked a valid registration.
Relative to the Mount Holly police concluding that Rossell failed to observe a parked vehicle while operating the Fire District Engine, The Reporter found a publicly available record which revealed that the Westampton police made a similar observation about Rossell’s driving during 2004 when he was found guilty of careless driving.
