MILLSTONE – Officials are investigating a fire at a two-story home on Arrowhead Way that left the house uninhabitable. Arrowhead Way is off Bergen Mills Road on the north side of Route 33.
The fire occurred on April 11, according to the Millstone Township Board of Fire Commissioners. The Millstone Township Fire Company was dispatched to Arrowhead Way at 8:47 p.m. after receiving a report of a fire in the home’s garage. Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters determined the entire home was involved in the fire.
Dave Markunas, chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, and Christopher Swendeman, public information officer for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, said the homeowners were in the residence when the fire occurred and said neither individual was injured. The homeowners’ names were not released.
Using hose lines and a fire ladder from Monroe Township Fire District No. 2, which also responded to the scene, firefighters fought the fire from outside the home before entering the residence. Once the heavy fire was suppressed, firefighters were able to enter the residence and complete the suppression of the fire. At 10:14 p.m., the fire was deemed to be under control, according to the fire commissioners.
Water was delivered to the scene by tanker trucks because Millstone does not have a municipal hydrant system.
Damage to the home was deemed substantial and, according to Markunas, the house is uninhabitable. Swendeman said the damage included the total loss of the roof and a partial collapse of the structure.
The fire is under investigation by the Millstone Township Fire Prevention Bureau, the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police, which provides police services to Millstone.
According to Swendeman, the fire marshal’s office deemed the fire to have originated in the garage. The cause of the fire was under investigation by the fire marshal as of April 16.
Swendeman said the prosecutor’s office is participating in the investigation because the office’s Major Crimes and Forensics Bureau generally responds to explosions, large loss fires, fire with serious injuries and/or fires that occur under suspicious circumstances.
The Millstone firefighters were under the direction of Chief John Fiore. In addition to Monroe Township, the Englishtown Fire Department and Monroe Fire Department also provided mutual aid. Additional aid was provided by the Hightstown Fire Department, Monroe Township Fire Districts No. 1 and No. 3, the Hope Fire Company of Upper Freehold, Freehold Township Independent Fire Company No. 1, Marlboro Township and the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office.
During the incident, an engine from the New Egypt Fire Company and a tanker from the Cassville Volunteer Fire Company of Jackson covered the Millstone Township firehouse, according to the fire commissioners. Millstone EMS, Englishtown-Manalapan EMS and a Monmouth County medical aid bus from Neptune Township provided firefighter rehabilitation.