Demolition of the units damaged in a fire at the Twin Brook Apartments in Ocean Township gets underway late Tuesday afternoon. STAFF VIDEO BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO
Steph Solis, Dan Radel and Andrew Ford, @AndrewFordNews 8:25 a.m. EDT August 5, 2015
(Photo: Andrew Ford)
OCEAN, NEW JERSEY
– Dozens watched, some wept, as a fire tore through 12 units at Twinbrook Village Apartments Tuesday. Residents stood on their lawns all afternoon as authorities contained the blaze, then razed the charred and smoldering building.
The Red Cross assisted 32 people with shelter, food and clothing.
Ocean Township Police Lt. Kevin Faller said all were accounted for and uninjured.
Police responded about 1:15 p.m., Faller said. The first two officers on scene saw landscaping burning on the south side of the building at 2120 Apollo Drive. The fire quickly spread to the building, the cause is under investigation.
The first two officers on scene evacuated residents. Those officers were treated for smoke inhalation at Monmouth Medical Center, Faller said. Both were released hours later.
One firefighter from West Long Branch and another from Wanamassa were treated at the hospital, Faller said. Their injuries were not life-threatening.
For hours on a 94-degree sunny summer day, firefighters worked as smoke and embers drifted down the street. Fifteen were treated for heat exhaustion.
A small kitten was saved from the burning building.
Michael Mautner, of Eatontown, helped rescue the kitten. It was gray and white with no identification and soaked from the water.
"It was in the upstairs of the apartment building,"
he said. "One of the firefighters got it and handed it off to me. I would like to find the owner but no one is stepping up right now."
A firefighter takes photos as a rainbow forms in the hose mist behind one of the buildings at the Twin Brooks Apartment complex in Ocean Township Tuesday, August 4, 2015. THOMAS P. COSTELLOMany displaced residents were away from home when the fire started and rushed over to the scene after getting calls about the situation.
Ocean Mayor Christopher Siciliano said he heard from the governor's office, which said it will provide assistance to displaced tenants.
The sprawling complex has about 900 units, but the fire was relegated to one building, Mayor Christopher Siciliano told WCBS 880. Fifteen apartments were destroyed, leaving about 40 people displaced, authorities said.
Vitalia Cofre, who lived in apartment 4C for four years, said a neighbor called her about the fire.
She stood behind police tape with nothing but her cellphone and the clothes on her back as firefighters hosed down the apartment complex.
"We were left with nothing," she told a reporter in Spanish, stifling tears. "Nothing."
Justo Hernandez rushed home as soon as he got a phone call from his wife, telling him their apartment was on fire.
He found his wife and kids outside.
Then he looked out at the apartment.
"Everything was on fire," he said in Spanish. "I don't know if there's anything I can salvage. They won't let me in until tomorrow."
Judy DeMarco, 67, lives with her daughter at one of the destroyed apartments.
She said her daughter had to flee their home in her pajamas with their dog, Snuggles, a Bichon mix.
DeMarco's daughter called her about 1 p.m., prompting her to return from the beach. She gave her Nike sandals to a family friend, asking him to bring the shoes to her daughter.
Dozens of residents huddled together in groups on the lawn watching the flames.
Rahul Chadha lives in the complex with his wife and three kids.
His apartment wasn't affected, but his family was evacuated along with dozens of others.
"Loss is loss," Chadha, 39, said as he watched firefighters in cherry pickers shoot water from their hoses. "We all live together."
The building was so badly damaged that authorities decided to tear it down.
An excavator's giant claw ripped through the tan brick as smoke poured out.
Cat Rescued from 2nd floor apartment in multiple-alarm fire on Apollo Drive in Ocean Twp. (Photo: Thomas P. Costello)
Firefighters hosed down the wreckage. The excavator crumbled walls, revealing clothing, a bicycle and a bed frame.
Then it was all smashed into a smoking heap.
Meena Prajapatin wept as she watched. She lived in 2A.
Maria Nolasco, 45, showed little distress as she watched her home, apartment 1A, burn and disintegrate.
She lives there with her husband, her two sons and her mother.
Authorities are at the scene of the multiple-alarm fire on Apollo Drive. (Photo: Thomas P. Costello)
"It's terrible because you know, you work to earn the life you have," she said."But I'm happy because everyone's fine.