Man Killed, 2 Injured In Gloucester Township Apartment Fire

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — A fatal apartment fire in Gloucester Township early Sunday killed a man and critically injured two others, according to the Gloucester Township Police Department. The early-morning fire broke out just before 3 a.m. in the Blackwood Falls Apartment Complex on Washington Avenue in the Blackwood section of the township.

Arriving officers and firefighters from Blackwood Fire Department Station #84 were able to immediately rescue two adults and one juvenile, police said. One man, who was not identified was killed, and two others were injured. An adult and a juvenile who were injured were taken to local hospitals for treatment, police said.

The injured included a 10-year-old girl and woman in her 30s, according to 6 ABC.

No other residents of the apartment complex or responding police and fire personnel were injured, police said. There were several people in the adjacent apartments who were safely evacuated, according to the police department.

Firefighters from Blackwood (Station #84) ,Chews Landing (Station #82), Blenheim (Station #83), Glendora (#81), Pine Hill (#62), Washington Township (#10-1), Deptford (#93), and Erial (#86) were on location and quickly contained the fire to one apartment.

A total of 18 people from eight apartments were displaced as a result of the fire, and will receive help from apartment management and the American Red Cross for temporary shelter. Most of the residents were expected to return to their apartment on Sunday.

A neighbor told NBC10 the man who was killed was a hardworking father who always looked out for others.

"He had just given my daughter a new Christmas tree for her new apartment," Kesha Welton said told the station.

Camden County Prosecutor's Office Crime Scene Unit assisted with the investigation. Emergency Medical Services from Gloucester Township, Washington Township, Deptford, Sterling, Virtua Paramedics, and Jefferson Stat assisted with medical treatment.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.