Fire displaces 55 township residents

A fire early Friday morning at the Windsor Castle Apartments in East Windsor has left 55 people homeless.

By: T.J. Furman
   EAST WINDSOR — A fire that broke out early Friday morning at the Windsor Castle Apartments on Devonshire Drive has left 55 residents there without a home.
   Township police said they were alerted to the blaze at 1:28 a.m. Friday. A police officer at the scene after the fire had been put out said there were no injuries and that all of the tenants had escaped.
   Sixteen apartments in building G of the complex were evacuated by police officers and firefighters. Eight local fire departments, including the two East Windsor companies and the Hightstown Fire Co., responded to the scene to assist in battling the flames. East Windsor’s two rescue squads were also called to the apartments.
   Cornelio Choco, a Windsor Castle resident whose building shares a parking lot with building G, said he woke up this morning when he heard what was going on.
   A friend of Mr. Choco’s lives underneath the apartment where the roof collapsed.
   "I don’t know if he lost everything," Mr. Choco said while standing across the parking lot from building G. "Now I’m trying to get in touch with him because maybe he needs help."
   Police said they are investigating the fire along with the township’s fire official and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. At this time investigating officials say the origin of the blaze is not suspicious.
   The American Red Cross of Central New Jersey said it is providing the 55 displaced residents with food, clothing and shelter for the time being. The Red Cross said it received a call for help at 2 a.m. this morning.
   The apartments apparently most affected were located at the end of the building farthest from Devonshire Drive. The roofs of those units had collapsed and the charred remains of the building’s support beams were visible from outside.
   Police said apartments 11 through 16 of the building received extensive fire, smoke and water damage, while units 1 through 10 saw only minor smoke damage. According to police, the initial report to them indicated the fire was in unit 16.
   Red cards were placed on the front door of each apartment labeling the building as an unsafe structure.
   Responding to the scene in addition to East Windsor and Hightstown units were firefighters from the Cranbury Fire Co., Dutch Neck Fire Co. in West Windsor, Washington Township Fire Department, Plainsboro Fire Department and the Applegarth Volunteer Engine Company No. 1 in Monroe.
For more on this story, see the Sept. 28, 2001 edition of the Windsor-Hights Herald.