Brick Pizzeria Owner Injured In Oven Explosion: Authorities

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township man was injured Saturday in a fire at a pizzeria caused by an explosion while trying to ignite a pizza oven, the Ocean County prosecutor's office said.

Giovanni Costagliola, the owner of Rondo's Pizzeria at 380 Drum Point Road, suffered first-degree burns to his head in the explosion, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office. Costagliola was takent to Jersey Shore University Medical Center and admitted for treatment, Della Fave said.

Investigators ruled the fire, which happened just before 10:30 a.m., was accidental. Costagliola told investigators that the explosion happened after he pressed the oven's ignitor button and lit a match, Della Fave said.

Police and firefighters responded to a call at the pizzeria at 10:27 a.m. Saturday. The fire was extinguished and Assistant Fire Marshal Robert Kurilla of the Brick Township Bureau of Fire Safety asked the prosecutor's office Arson Unit to respond and investigate the origin and cause of the fire, Della Fave said.

A malfunction of the oven could not be eliminated as the cause of the fire, he said.

Image via Google Maps