EDISON – Firefighters are continuing to investigate the cause of a fire that left a pet dog, two parakeets dead and two apartments uninhabitable after a fire broke out in an apartment at a Fox Road complex, according to authorities.
When firefighters arrived at the scene at 9:43 p.m. on March 14, they found thick smoke and flames coming from windows of the first-floor unit, Deputy Fire Chief Andy Toth said.
Firefighters rescued an 82-year-old woman and her 65-year-old son, who were both suffering from smoke inhalation, Toth said. The woman and her son were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick for treatment.
Another male occupant, 67, from the first-floor unit, and a second-floor tenant, from another apartment, escaped unharmed from the building. The first-floor tenants’ dog and the second-floor tenant’s birds died, Toth said.
Firefighters remained on the scene until after 1:30 a.m. on March 15. Both apartments were left uninhabitable, and Toth said the American Red Cross has been contacted to assist the displaced tenants.