Fire Rescue News - Three condo units damaged in Galloway Township fire
From Press staff reports | Posted: Saturday, March 6, 2010 | 0 comments
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - An early morning fire - apparently caused by clothes left too close to a gas water heater - caused serious damage to three Sussex Place condominium units and kept six families from their homes Saturday afternoon.
Bayview Volunteer Fire Company Chief Joe Blazo said no one was hurt in the fire at the Society Hill condominiums, which was first reported at 3:05 a.m. Saturday....Continue Reading
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About 35 firefighters from four companies in Galloway Township and Absecon fought the blaze, Blazo said, and firefighters remained on the scene until 7:30 a.m.
Galloway Township Police Officer Ryan Goehringer, the first on the scene, was able to evacuate eight of the three-story building's 12 condos, police Sgt. Harry Hiltner said, but he was unable to get to the third floor due to the smoke.
The hallway and six units across the hall from the fire had some smoke damage, Blazo said, but the residents were allowed back in later Saturday. Utility workers were still checking electricity and other services to three more units, but Blazo said residents of three condos "are going to be out a while. There was a lot of serious structural damage."
Flames caused most of the damage to two condos, but a first-floor unit sustained mostly water damage because it was directly under the main fire, he said.
Blazo said investigators are still trying to see what caused the fire, but a preliminary look led them to believe that the water heater was involved.
"There was a pile of clothes a little too close," Blazo said. "When you have a gas water heater, you don't ever want to leave clothes too close to the burner."
As of 1:30 p.m., Blazo could not provide a damage estimate from the fire but said he expected it to be excessive. The Red Cross is assisting those who were displaced.
Staff writers Martin DeAngelis and Steven Lemongello contributed to this report.
