Crime & Safety
UPDATED: Smoke Detectors Save Family in Early Morning Blaze on Cleveland Lane
Ssmoke detectors alerted family to fire, which destroyed 75 percent of home.
A township home suffered significant damage in a fire early this morning, but no injuries were sustained thanks to smoke detectors alerting the residents to the blaze.
At around 5:25 a.m., a male resident of a home located at 216 Cleveland Lane, near the Raymond Road intersection, awoke to the sound of his smoke detector going off. He then found the house was filled with smoke, said South Brunswick Police spokesman Sgt. Jim Ryan.
Kingston Fire Chief Lloyd Mathis said he arrived at the scene to find 25 percent of the home engulfed in flames, mainly the garage area.
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"Apparently the family was asleep at the time the fire occurred and was awakened by the sound of the smoke detectors," Mathis said. "Once they heard it they found the house had become involved with smoke and they got out."
About 50 firefighters from the Kingston, Monmouth Junction, Kendall Park and Rocky Hill Fire Departments worked to extinguish the blaze. First Aid squads from Kingston and Princeton also responded to the scene. Mathis said Monmouth Junction and Kendall Park firefighters responded with a ladder truck, while Kingston firefighters responded with two engines and a rescue truck. Rocky Hill sent two engines.
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Mathis said firefighters had the blaze under control within about 40 minutes and it took about one hour to extinguish the fire completely.
Sgt. Ryan said about 75 percent of the home was significantly damaged in the fire, but the family avoided injury thanks to the smoke detectors. The house was occupied by three people, including the male resident's wife and daughter, who will be staying with relatives in the area due to the house being left uninhabitable by the fire, Mathis said.
South Brunswick Fire Marshals are currently on scene investigating the cause of the blaze.
The Kingston Fire Department is in need of additional volunteers.
Contact lloyd.mathis@kingstonfireco.com to get more information about how you can help serve and protect your community.
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