FIRE DISPLACES RESIDENTS FROM TWO APARTMENTS
At 4:33 PM on Friday, March 28
th, the Monmouth Junction Fire Department was dispatched to F1 East Garden Way for a report of smoke coming from a refrigerator. As fire and police personnel were responding, additional 9-1-1 calls were received of flames being visible. Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith arrived first to discover heavy smoke coming from the front and rear of the 16-unit apartment building, with a working fire in the kitchen of the first-floor apartment. Firefighters stretched hose lines into the building to attack the fire and also performed searches of the 4 apartments off the common hallway.
The quick response and actions of firefighters confined the fire to a single apartment. The fire unit was deemed uninhabitable due to the damage, with the second-floor unit above also deemed uninhabitable as a precaution due to the fact that structural elements were exposed during extinguishment efforts. Property management and the Red Cross were working to provide temporary housing for the four displaced residents.
"Firefighters did an outstanding job placing the fire under control within minutes of arrival, limiting the damage to just one unit," according to Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith. "Thankfully, this fire occurred during the daytime when fewer people are home and those who are being most likely awake. This could have turned out much differently if the fire had occurred overnight," added Chief Scott.
A total of 60 firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire, including firefighters from all three South Brunswick departments (Monmouth Junction, Kendall Park & Kingston) as well as the career firefighter staff, along with firefighters from Plainsboro and Monroe. Firefighters from East Brunswick, North Brunswick, Franklin Park, Griggstown, and Montgomery Township covered South Brunswick fire stations, responding to one additional call.
South Brunswick EMS responded, and there were no injuries to residents or firefighters.
The fire is under investigation by the South Brunswick Township Fire Safety Bureau.
