UPDATE: Police ID Victim of South Brunswick House Fire

Police say they have identified the victim of Tuesday’s house fire in South Brunswick.

The victim was Robert Barnitt, 76, according to the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office. Barnitt lived in the home by himself. An autopsy conducted by the examiner’s office determined Barnitt died due to smoke inhalation.

At 11 p.m., South Brunswick Police received several 911 calls reporting a structure fire at 2 Cranberry Court in the Kingston section of the township. The first officers arrived in less than three minutes and found extensive fire throughout the rear of the two story structure, police said.

The Kingston, Monmouth Junction, Kendall Park, Rocky Hill, Plainsboro, Princeton, Montgomery #2, and Cranbury Fire Departments responded to the scene of the fire. It took 75 firefighters twenty five minutes to bring the blaze under control, police said.

Griggstown and Franklin Park fire companies stood by at local firehouses. Kendall Park, Monmouth Junction, and Plainsboro EMS responded to the fire. One Kingston firefighter, Deputy Chief John Luck, 59, suffered a broken wrist while fighting the blaze.

After the fire was brought under control, it was determined one resident was unaccounted for. A team of investigators from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Unit, South Brunswick Police Department, South Brunswick Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Middlesex County Fire Marshal’s Office located a victim in the structure just after 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, police said.

The investigative findings indicate the fire is non suspicious and originated in the first floor kitchen area of the home.