No one injured but house suffers heavy damage.
By: Casha Caponegro
A house fire on North Main Street on Wednesday night has left a Cranbury family temporarily homeless.
No one was injured in the fire at 131 N. Main St., although it left the house uninhabitable, police said.
Members of the Cranbury, Plainsboro and Hightstown fire departments worked into Thursday morning to extinguish the blaze.
Police officials said that the owners of the home, Jack and Josephine Bloom, were not in the house when the fire started.
According to Cranbury Police Chief Harry Kleinkauf, the cause of the blaze has not been determined.
"We do not suspect arson to be the cause at this point," said Chief Kleinkauf. "We are not sure what may have started it."
The fire started in the front room of the house, which contained the Blooms’ Christmas tree. Chief Kleinkauf would not speculate whether the unattended tree caused the fire.
The Cranbury police received the first call about the fire at 8:18 p.m. from an ambulance driver who witnessed the blaze while driving along Main Street.
Police officials said that flames were engulfing the front room of the home by the time the first fire engines arrived.
Peggy Brennan, who lives four blocks away from the Blooms, ran to the scene, arriving around 8:30 p.m.
"Flames were shooting through the downstairs on both sides of the house," said Ms. Brennan. "I don’t know if anything will be salvageable."
Mr. Bloom was entertaining guests in a separate garage structure in back of the home, said police officials.
"There was no one in the house at the time of the fire," said Chief Kleinkauf.
The blaze continued for several hours and was finally extinguished in the early hours of Thursday morning.
"The fire companies did a wonderful job putting it out," said Ms. Brennan.
The area of Main Street near the home was blocked off during the ordeal and the Cranbury police worked throughout the night to direct motorists past the area.
"We had people out there from 8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. directing traffic," said Chief Kleinkauf.
Severe damage was done to the house as a result of the fire, although the exact cost of the damage has not been determined.
"The house is definitely not inhabitable," said Chief Kleinkauf. "It is just a shame. The house really took a beating and I understand the owners recently put in a lot of money to fix it up."