Townhouse Fire Kills Two in Hamilton Township
The fire in the three-story, four-bedroom home on the 4900 block of Laydon Court started at about 2 p.m. and burned from the second floor up, said Chief Dave Connelly of the Mays Landing Fire Company. The building was completely gutted, and the house next door also suffered some damage....Continue reading
(The Elwood Fire Company covered Laureldale's Staion 18-3)
Madelaine Vitale, a spokeswoman for Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel, confirmed Wednesday night that two people were dead, but offered no further information about the victims. The Major Crimes, Arson and Forensics units all responded, but it was “way too early to come to any preliminary conclusions,” Vitale said.
Neighbors said they saw the smoke and flames and knocked on the door to see if anyone was home, but got no answer.
“I was banging on the door, screaming and hollering, ‘Is anyone here?’” Mojica said.
But he got no answer, and then he saw the police arrive, Mojica said.
Evette Mojica said she spoke with the mother of the family that lived in the townhouse a few times, because their daughters were the same age and went to school together.
“I’m devastated,” Evette Mojica said. “This was supposed to be the best day of my life. I’m moving to a new home ... and this lady lost everything.”
Next-door neighbor Kinglee Dunlap said he was home on his day off watching television, when he smelled the smoke and went outside.
“I called 911. I saw the flames up at the top part of the house,” said Dunlap, who was one of those evacuated. It was his wall firefighters broke through to get to the fire.
Dunlap said he knocked on the door, but no one answered.
Asked what he would do if he couldn’t go home, Dunlap said, “I don’t know. I’ll look to God and the church.”
Dunlap said he didn’t know the occupants very well, but his son went to school with one of the daughters. The family had just moved in within the last month.
Kiara McGill, 14, and Jocelyn Lugo, 13, who live in the Oakcrest complex and watched the investigation, said there were five girls in the family, a 14-year-old, a 12-year-old and three younger children. They are friends with the older girls, who were new to the William Davies Middle School.
As youngsters got off an arriving school bus, police pulled two girls aside and they burst into tears.
McGill and Lugo said they wanted to make signs for their friends expressing sympathy and saying that they could stay at their homes.
“That’s really sad,” said McGill, who wanted to give the girls hugs. “I’m not going to expect them at school.”
Keyveat James, who lives two doors away, said Wednesday night that he got a call from his mother saying the nearby house was on fire. He got home and saw the flames.
He didn’t know the family except to see the children going in and out on their way to school, James said.
Although his home was not damaged, his family was evacuated at least for the night, James said. He and his mother were staying with a relative in Atlantic City, and his nephew was staying with a friend in Mays Landing so he could go to school.
In addition to the Mays Landing Fire Company, firefighters from Cologne, Laureldale and Cardiff fought the fire, and the Dorothy Fire Company covered the Mays Landing station, Connelly said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation by Hamilton Township police and the Prosecutor’s Office, Connelly said.
Smoke started coming from the house again in the late afternoon, and at 9 p.m. firefighters were still trying to put out hot spots, Connelly said.
The cold weather became a factor after 6 p.m., when water on the ground started to freeze, Connelly said. The township Public Works Department placed salt on the road.
The block of Laydon Court where the fire took place was closed to traffic, as was a large stretch of Oakcrest Drive, while firefighters were at the scene. When school let out and buses full of children arrived, police escorted the children through the fire area. Some parents came to meet them and other children walked to their homes on their own.
This story was taken from the news source stated above. It is not the opinion of The Elwood Vol. Fire Company or it's members.
