Fast Moving Fire Heavily Damages Two Homes
At 2:51 PM on January 29th, the Monmouth Junction Fire Department was dispatched to Regal Drive for a fire coming from the chimney. South Brunswick Police Officers arrived within minutes and reported heavy smoke coming from the roof, and began evacuating all residents from the 6-unit townhome building. First-arriving firefighters stretched hoselines inside to initiate fire attack. They encountered heavy smoke and heat, with an intense fire burning within the concealed spaces of the third-floor finished attic space of one townhome. As more firefighters arrived, additional hoselines were stretched into the neighboring townhome units, locating heavy fire that had spread to a second townhome. Firefighters limited the fire damage to the two units in the center of the building. The other four units were checked and found to have no damage, with those units allowed to be reoccupied.
Two townhomes suffered extensive fire and smoke damage and were deemed uninhabitable. The Red Cross is working with the displaced residents and family members to provide housing. Firefighters were on scene until nearly 7 PM.
"This was an especially challenging fire for crews. We had heavy fire conditions in two units, requiring multiple hoselines and considerable efforts to expose and extinguish the fire. We also had sub-freezing conditions, further taxing firefighters," according to Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith. "Unfortunately, this has been a particularly difficult first month of the year for the town, with three separate structure fires, all in freezing conditions, all resulting in displaced families."
Over 65 firefighters responded to the 3-alarm fire Thursday afternoon, including firefighters from the three South Brunswick departments (Monmouth Junction, Kendall Park, Kingston) and the on-duty career staff, along with crews from Plainsboro, Monroe, Brookview, Jamesburg, North Brunswick, Franklin Park, and Little Rocky Hill. Firefighters from Helmetta and East Brunswick Old Bridge covered South Brunswick fire stations during the incident. Ambulances from South Brunswick, Monmouth Junction, Monroe, and North Brunswick responded, and there were no injuries. The fire is under investigation by the South Brunswick Township Fire Safety Bureau.
