BY LAUREN MATTHEW
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE – A David Drive home had to be demolished last week after a fire broke out while a teenage boy was home alone.
According to Old Bridge Police Lt. Robert Weiss, the fire was reported at 11:45 a.m. last Thursday. When police arrived at the scene, Weiss said, the house, which belonged to the Cardillo family, was already engulfed in flames.
Firefighters from the Cheesequake, Laurence Harbor, Madison Park and South Old Bridge fire companies were on hand to put out the blaze.
Officials ultimately decided the house was too severely damaged and would be unsafe if left standing.
Authorities believe the fire began in the basement of the home and spread upward. A teenage boy who was home told officials he heard an explosion around the time the fire started.
Authorities said they believe the noise was a computer monitor exploding.
The boy discovered the flames and left the house to seek help from neighbors. He was not injured.
“He was quite upset,” said Old Bridge District 2 Fire Marshall Tom Gerity.
The first and second floors of the house suffered major fire damage, as did the roof and basement, Gerity said. The roof collapsed into the home as the result of the blaze. Officials came to the conclusion that the house was unsafe and would have to be immediately demolished.
Officials had heard reports that an adult male may have been home at the time of the fire, and began to search the house for him. They evacuated, however, due to the danger that the roof was about to collapse. Officials later learned that the man had not been home at the time of the fire, Gerity said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Weiss said, though officials suspect it was accidental in nature.
“We don’t believe there’s anything suspicious,” Weiss said.
Gerity agreed.
“We have not gotten down to the exact cause at this time,” he said, however.
Gerity said he was unsure where the family was staying since the fire, though he believed neighbors had offered to take them in.