By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — The cause of a bedroom fire is under investigation while a family of seven, including five children, waits to return to their home after they were displaced from 131 Outcalt St. late March 11.
Hightstown Deputy Fire Chief Scott Jenkins said a quick response kept the fire to the bedroom, even though most of the home had some smoke damage and it was still considered uninhabitable by Monday. All seven of the home’s occupants escaped the fire before firefighters arrived and no injuries were reported.
Deputy Chief Jenkins, who commanded the firefighter response at the house, said the Fire Department was alerted at 8:45 p.m. March 11. Upon arriving, he said, firefighters saw heavy smoke coming out of the second story of the wood-frame, single-family house.
Firefighters from both East Windsor fire companies along with Robbinsville and Applegarth in Monroe assisted Hightstown, which contained the fire and had it controlled within 25 minutes, Deputy Chief Jenkins said. Ambulances also arrived from Hightstown and both East Windsor rescue squads.
”Great crew on first truck in. … They knocked down the fire,” he said. “Everything was under control.”
Deputy Chief Jenkins said the house could be rehabilitated.
Mercer County Fire Marshal Kevin Brink, who also is chief of East Windsor Fire Company No. 1, said Monday that the exact cause of the fire was still under investigation, but that it was accidental.
The American Red Cross of Central New Jersey said in a news release that it provided food, clothing, toiletries and temporary shelter and “referrals for long-term needs” for the family. Spokeswoman Diane Concannon said these referrals are usually given to victims whose homes were uninsured and who need assistance for an extended period of time beyond the first few days the Red Cross can assist someone, but it wasn’t clear whether the family’s home was insured.
According to Hightstown tax assessor records, the home is owned by Julio and Ivette Pineda. Attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.
Crayons, markers and pencils littered the sidewalk in front of the house Monday morning, with a discarded pizza crust offering a bit of beige and red against the orange and green splotches from the stepped-on and partially melted writing utensils. A relatively clean teddy bear was buried under rubble, topped by a burned-up mattress that was thrown in the driveway.
The windows on the second story were covered in plastic film, while the ones on the side were boarded up. A notice to vacate remained on the front door.
The night of March 11, “it was just black smoke,” Outcalt Street resident Caroline Hawkins said.
She and her granddaughter first noticed several fire trucks rushing to the house. Though she saw them working around the house until about 1 or 2 a.m. Saturday, she said the smoke seemed to go out quickly, and after that, she just noticed a lot of people from the neighborhood watching the cleanup.

