Three People Escape Gull Cove Fire in Brigantine

Published: Saturday, March 07, 2009

Three people got out safely, but a fire caused about $5,000 worth of damage to their Gull Cove home Friday morning, a fire official said.

Firefighters were called to the house at 9:51 a.m. and arrived four minutes later to see smoke coming from the crawl space under the house, Lt. Joseph Maguire said. The occupants had already escaped.

Seven firefighters responded, and two of them went into the crawl space with hose lines and extinguished the fire "under tight and cramped conditions," Maguire said.

It took about 15 minutes to put the fire under control, and the crew was on the scene for a little more than an hour, Maguire said.

The fire, which damaged insulation and the structure on the bottom of the house, appears to have been caused by arcing wires, Maguire said.