By jennifer dome
Staff Writer
SOUTH RIVER — A borough resident passed away Saturday, nine days after making a heroic gesture to rescue three girls from a burning house.
Paul Kern, who was 46, died July 19 as the result of suffering a heart attack following a July 10 rescue effort during a house fire on Maple Avenue.
Kern, a resident of Leroy Street, lived in Old Bridge before moving to South River 10 years ago. In Old Bridge, he had been a lieutenant with the South Old Bridge Engine Company No. 3.
"I’m so sorry about Mr. Kern," said John Collazo, the owner of the home that caught fire July 10.
"For him to do that was extraordinary," Collazo said.
Collazo’s daughters — Kellie, 11, Kristin, 10, and Heather, 8 — were all upstairs playing around 9:25 p.m. when his wife, Kathy, discovered the fire in the laundry room of their single-family home. Collazo said he was sleeping downstairs when he heard Kathy scream "fire."
"The flames were already high by then," Collazo said.
While he tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, Kathy went to retrieve a hose from the back yard to try to douse the flames, Collazo said.
By this time, borough police officers Joseph Castellano, Joseph Guiamano and Sgt. Gregory Boldizar had already arrived.
Collazo said that his daughters could not tell where the fire was in the house, because the smoke in the hallway upstairs was too thick.
His daughter Kristen pushed the screen from the window in order to get more fresh air in the room.
"I was going to go in the house but I didn’t realize there was so much smoke," said Collazo, 31.
He said that he never saw Kern, who reportedly heard the three girls screaming and tried to get in the front door and also tried to climb on top of a garbage can in order to get the girls from the window. Before police and neighbors hoisted ladders to the upstairs window and helped the girls escape, Kern had collapsed across the street from the Maple Avenue home.
Borough Fire Chief Charlie Matts said the borough first aid squad began treating Kern and transported him to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, where he remained until he passed away Saturday.
The fire was contained to the laundry room on the first floor of the home, Matts said. According to Collazo, the wire to the gas regulator for the clothes dryer shorted out, causing the fire.
It took about 15 to 20 minutes for approximately 30 members of the South River Fire Department to put out the blaze, with the help of firefighters from East Brunswick and Sayreville, Matts said.
Because of extensive damage from the fire and the smoke damage throughout the home, the borough’s building inspectors deemed the house uninhabitable until repairs could be made, according to police reports.
Collazo said he is uncertain when his family will be able to return home. For now, all five family members are staying with Collazo’s brother in Matawan.
The smoke damage is extensive throughout the house and most of the family’s possessions are covered in soot, Collazo said.
Luckily, there is little water damage in the house, he said. He commended the police and fire departments for their fast response.
Collazo said he was taken aback by the response from his neighbors — Kern among them — who helped bring ladders and get his daughters to a safe place.
"I was in shock. There was so many people. I didn’t even know there was that many people in my neighborhood," Collazo said.
"Everybody was unbelievable. They were so great," he added.
Kern, who was born in Taylor, Pa., is a graduate of Cedar Ridge High School in Old Bridge and worked as a technician at Open Road Mazda in Edison and as a mechanic at Loman Ford, Woodbridge.
Kern is survived by his partner, Elizabeth Bund, and daughter, Jamie Kern, both of Leroy Street, and two sons, Steven Kern of Bridgeton and Edward Kern of South Amboy.
He is also survived by his parents, Paul I. and Marcella Gutowski Kern of Old Bridge, two brothers, John and Joseph, both of East Brunswick, and a sister, Mary Deady of Manalapan.

