Duplex Fire Destroys One Unit, Damages Another In Manchester, Police Say

A fire in a Leisure Village West duplex destroyed one unit and left a second one uninhabitable Friday evening, leaving two residents and two cats homeless, Manchester police said.

Manchester Police Capt. Todd Malland said the fire, on Liverpool Circle, was reported about 4:45 p.m. and arriving police and firefighters found the home fully engulfed.

An elderly resident of the home was outside but was stuck in his fenced-in patio, and was assisted out by Manchester Police Sgt. Robert Sharry, Ridgeway Fire Department Deputy Chief Brian Flanagan and an unidentified Good Samaritan, Malland said. The man was not injured but he was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River as a precaution, he said.

Several nearby homes were evacuated while firefighters from Manchester, Ridgeway, and Lakehurst Fire departments extinguished the blaze. The American Red Cross assisted with relocating the displaced residents, Malland said.

The cause and origin of the fire remains under investigation by Detective Adam Emmons of the Manchester Township Police Department’s Investigations Bureau. Also assisting with the investigation are detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Unit, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigations Unit (CSI) and the Ocean County Fire Marshall’s Office, he said.

The Manchester Township Office of Emergency Management also assisted at the scene as did the Township Animal Control Officer who responded to remove two cats that were not injured, Malland said.