Firefighters battle blaze at home in Northfield, N.J.
Saturday, August 27, 2016 08:43PM
NORTHFIELD, N.J. (WPVI) -- Firefighters battled a three-alarm fire at a home in Northfield, Atlantic County.
Flames broke out shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday inside the home on East Yorkshire Avenue at Bay Drive.
Action News is told the back of the home partially collapsed before firefighters brought the blaze under control.
A woman is dead after a house fire that collapsed the roof of a one-story rancher on Bay Drive on Saturday.
Fire investigators were working to determine what sparked the blaze.
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One dead in Northfield fire
CLAIRE LOWE, Staff Writer
NORTHFIELD, NEW JERSEY - A woman is dead after a house fire that collapsed the roof of a one-story rancher on Bay Drive on Saturday.
Officials have not identified the victim. City tax records show the home is owned by William and Roseann Eisenhardt.
Mayor Erland Chau confirmed the woman's death and said the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation because it was a fatality. He said authorities will resume searching the home Sunday, adding police will be stationed at the home overnight.
Fire Chief Bruce Cummings said the blaze did not appear suspicious but directed all other questions to the Prosecutor's Office. A Prosecutor's Office spokesman did not respond to a call for additional information.
Craig Dennis, who lives three houses away on Yorkshire Avenue, said he came outside when he heard sirens and saw only large clouds of black smoke covering the home. He said that eventually the roof collapsed from the fire.
Neighbor Dennis Gitsas said he was alerted to the blaze when he heard an off-duty Atlantic City firefighter calling for assistance. Gitsas went outside and quickly smelled the smoke and saw the flames pouring from the windows. He said that soon after, Northfield police arrived on the scene.
"The policemen were unbelievable. You can never ask for them to do more than they did," Gitsas said. "You just can't thank them enough."
Fire units from Northfield, Linwood, Somers Point, the Atlantic County Fire Marshal's Office, the prosecutor's Forensic Unit, EMS units from TriCare and AtlantiCare, and South Jersey Gas responded. The Northfield Fire Auxiliary provided food and water to first responders.