Family loses everything, donations sought
The South Brunswick Fire Marshal has determined the cause of a fire that destroyed a Cherry Street residence on Saturday morning as accidental in nature, according to a police press release.
South Brunswick Police received several 911 calls at 8:55 a.m. Saturday reporting a mobile home on fire in the Monmouth Mobile Home Park off Route 1.
When officers and firefighters arrived they found the three residents of the home outside and safe.
"On arrival, we were confronted by heavy fire already consuming much of the mobile home," Kendall Park Fire Chief Chris Perez said in the release, "The flames were shooting 30 feet into the air."
Firefighters had to work fast to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby mobile homes. It took firefighters approximately 10 minutes to bring the fire under control, police said.
In all, 40 firefighters from all three township fire companies – Kendall Park, Monmouth Junction, and Kingston responded to the call.
Kendall Park and Monmouth Junction First Aid Squads also responded and there were no injuries, police said.
An investigation by the South Brunswick Fire Marshal determined the fire was caused by an overload in an electrical outlet.
Police said the residents are staying with friends in the area.
On Tuesday, Township Social Services Director LouAnne Wolf said the residents, consisting of a woman and two men lost everything they had in the fire and needed donations of clothes and other items.
Ms. Wolf said the adults could use donations of new or nearly new clothing or gift cards to purchase them.
The female is a petite size and takes a large size for tops, according to Ms. Wolf. She could also use donations of elastic waistband tights/pants in a medium size. Her shoe size is five.
One of the men is described as a "big and tall guy," taking a 2XL top and 40×32 pants. His show size is 11.
The second man takes a large top and 36×30 pants with a show size of 9.5, according to Ms. Wolf.
Donations can be dropped off at the South Brunswick Social Services Office, downstairs at the Municipal Building on Route 522, she said.
The South Brunswick Fire chiefs want to remind residents of the added fire dangers during the Christmas Season.
Although this fire was not connected to the holiday season, there are added dangers this time of year, police said.
Each year, fire departments in the United States respond to an average of 210 structure fires caused by Christmas trees, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The association recommends the following Christmas safety tips:
• Carefully decorating Christmas trees can help make your holidays safer.
• If you have an artificial tree, be sure it is labeled, certified, or identified by the manufacturer as fire retardant.
• Choose a tree with fresh, green needles that do not fall off when touched.
• Before placing the tree in the stand, cut 1 inch to 2 inches from the base of the trunk.
• Make sure the tree is at least three feet away from any heat source, like fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents or lights.
• Make sure the tree is not blocking an exit.
• Add water to the tree stand. Be sure to add water daily.
• Use lights that have the label of an independent testing laboratory. Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.
• Replace any string of lights that has worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Connect no more than three strands of mini string sets and a maximum of 50 bulbs for screw-in bulbs. Read manufacturer’s instructions for number of LED strands to connect.
• Never use lit candles to decorate the tree.
• Always turn off Christmas tree lights before leaving home or going to bed.