By David Kilby, Special Writer
EAST WINDSOR — On Monday evening, a fire destroyed an unoccupied residence on Westfield Road.
Chief Barry Rashkin, of East Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 2, said it was the first major fire of 2013 for East Windsor.
”We’ve had many other calls, brushfires, power lines down, electrical fires in homes, but nothing of this magnitude. The ones we had were single station responses,” Chief Rashkin said Thursday.
Fire departments from several area companies responded to the emergency at 10:29 p.m.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation by the East Windsor Township Police Department and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office as of press time.
”It was a large fire,” Chief Rashkin said. “It took a lot of work to get that thing out.”
The fire was extinguished by firefighters, but not before the house was completely destroyed, police said. The residence was not occupied at the time of the fire, police said.
Responding emergency services included East Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 and East Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 2 as well as fire companies from Robbinsville, Hightstown, Plainsboro, West Windsor, Cranbury, Monroe and Princeton Junction, according to police. East Windsor’s District 1 Rescue Squad also responded.
Police said officers saw flames coming from the rear of the residence at 1 Westfield Road. The residence shortly thereafter became engulfed in the flames, according to the East Windsor Police Department.
Chief Kevin Brink, of East Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1, the first responder to the fire, said the house had been empty since 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Thus, “the fire could have been burning for hours,” Chief Brink said Thursday.
He said by the time firefighters arrived, the floor of the house had collapsed.
”The fire started in the basement, but what caused it we don’t know,” Chief Brink said while mentioning the house was too damaged and engulfed in flames for firefighters to battle the blaze from within the building.
Extinguishing the fire from the exterior of the house took a couple of hours, and emergency crews were on the scene until 3 a.m., he said. The one-story ranch house near the Wendy’s and Rite Aid on Route 130 North was so covered in smoke it was difficult to see the front of the house, Chief Brink said.
Chief Rashkin advised residents to regularly check any gas appliances and systems in their houses — and when leaving to go out — to make sure the stove ovens are turned off.
The chief of East Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 2 added folks should make sure the smoke detectors in their houses are working since those devices can be helpful — even when no one is home.
”People from outside may be able to hear the smoke detectors,” Chief Rashkin said, adding it’s always a good idea to ask a neighbor to check on the house when no one is there.
Chief Rashkin advised people check their electrical outlets at home and make sure they are not overloaded.
The names of the owners of the residence destroyed by the fire were unknown as of press time and not mentioned in the East Windsor police report.