By Michael Benavides
Staff Writer
JACKSON – An unconscious woman was rescued from a burning home when police officers and firefighters responded to a residence on Huntington Drive on the afternoon of Dec. 15.
Jackson police reported that at 12:58 p.m., officers Kevin Chesney, Joe Candido and Cassie De La Torre responded to a report of a structure fire. The officers observed flames coming from the home, but were unable to enter the home due to a heavy smoke condition.
Police said firefighters from the Jackson Mills Volunteer Fire Company reached the scene, entered the house and located an unconscious woman in a room at the side of the residence. The woman was later determined to be 77 years old.
The woman was brought outside and resuscitation efforts were initiated by firefighters from the Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 and continued by paramedics from Quality First Aid and MONOC.
The woman was transported to a hospital for additional treatment, according to police. No additional information about her condition was available.
Al Della Fave, the public affairs director at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, told the Tri-Town News on Dec. 19 that the fire may have been accidental, based on a preliminary investigation that was conducted by detectives from the prosecutor’s office.
“Prosecutor’s Office Detective Thomas Haskell Jr. reported that the preliminary investigation found the fire originated in the west bedroom along the northwest wall,” Della Fave said. “The cause of the fire is accidental and a failure of energized electrical equipment (wall outlet) could not be eliminated.”