HILLSBOROUGH: Auten Road townhomes are damaged by fire

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
   Families hadn’t returned by Monday to three Auten Road townhouse units damaged Saturday, March 14, by a fire that was reported at about 5:50 p.m.
   Firefighting crews quickly knocked the fire down and kept it contained to the one building in the Meadows complex at 448 Auten Road.
   Fire Official Christopher Weniger said Monday no cause had yet been determined, but said it didn’t appear suspicious. The fire was mostly in the attic and roof, he said.
   Police said the victims were Deborah Nicholson, Mary Sczepanik and Andrew Knox.
   Station 37 units, just clearing a call on New Amwell Road, responded immediately.
   Company 2 Chief Jim Paterno arrived to find smoke showing from the attic roof of a middle-of-the-row two-story townhouse, according to the company website. He called for a second alarm as conditions worsened.
   Adjacent townhomes were evacuated. Police said unit 3C suffered “extensive damage,” with “some damage” to units 3B and 3D. All three units were deemed to be uninhabitable.
   The fire was knocked down by 6:05 p.m.
   The cause of the fire didn’t appear suspicious, police said, and it is under investigation by the township Bureau of Fire Safety.
   At the scene were all four fire companies covering Hillsborough, and units from Finderne, Bound Brook, Elizabeth Avenue, Manville, Montgomery and Millstone Valley. Also there were the Hillsborough Office of Emergency Management, township and Somerville rescue squads, American Red Cross and Public Service Electric and Gas.