Scotch Plains Family Escapes Large House Fire Friday

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ — A family of four escaped a large house fire early Friday morning on Winchester Drive.

The initial fire alarm sounded around 12:45 a.m. when

The fire started on the exterior of house and by the time it went inside and got to a smoke detector to alert the family and us it had gotten a 20 to 30 minute head start on us," said Scotch Plains Fire Chief John Lestarchick.

Scotch Plains Fire Department arrived at the home just before 1 a.m. to find it "heavily engulfed in flames and thankfully the family had made it out safely."

On two occasions firefighters were forced to rapidly evacuate the home due to deteriorating heavy fire conditions while attempting to extinguish the two-alarm blaze, firefighters reported.

A total of 50 firefighters were on scene to extinguish the fire that took a little over an hour to get under control, Lestarchick said.

One Scotch Plains firefighter received a minor burn injury and is doing well after being treated and released from Overlook Hospital.

The cause of the fire is being ruled accidental.

The entire Scotch Plains and Fanwood Fire Departments responded along with companies from Westfield, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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