1 DEAD, 9 DISPLACED BY BRICK TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY APARTMENT FIRE. THE CAUSE AND ORIGIN OF THE FIRE WAS THE KITCHEN GAS BURNER
January 27, 2015
BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ – Cleanup
continued Tuesday at Chambers Bridge Residence apartment complex where a
kitchen fire the night before displaced nine people.
One evacuee, a first-floor resident, suffered a heart attack
after the fire and died, said Kevin Batzel, bureau chief of Brick Township Fire
Safety.
Residents were evacuated at 8 p.m. Monday amid snow and
strong winds. The fire alarm system detected the fourth-floor kitchen fire in
the apartment building at 175 Chambers Bridge Road, Batzel said.
The fire started at around 7:55 p.m. The fourth-floor
resident turned on the wrong burner on her stove while making tea, Batzel said.
On top of the ignited burner was a grease pot with a cooking board nearby.
The fourth-floor resident, whose name was not released,
tried to extinguish the fire and called 911.
The flames were extinguished within the hour, and were
contained within that apartment of the 184-unit building. For that, Batzel
credits the sprinkler system and a speedy response from firefighters.
"If the sprinkler system hadn't been activated, this
could've been a disaster," Batzel said.
Batzel said four residents stayed with friends in the
apartment complex, while five others were taken to the Hilton Garden Hotel Inn
in Lakewood.
Brick Township Fire Districts 1 and 2 responded, as well as
Brick Township Police Department, Brick Township EMS and Brick Township Office
of Emergency Management.