BBQ Grill Causes House Fire In South Brunswick

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The South Brunswick Fire Department on Tuesday quickly contained a house fire that was possibly caused by a barbecue held on July 4, officials said. No injuries were reported.

At 8:44 a.m. on Tuesday, the Monmouth Junction Fire Department and South Brunswick Police were dispatched to 404 Samuel Court in Dayton Center for a report of smoke coming from a barbecue on a balcony. Smoke was coming from the roof line of a one-story section of the 4-unit building.

Officers immediately began evacuating the residents.

Chief Scott Smith of the Monmouth Junction Fire Department requested the first alarm, bringing Kingston and Kendall Park Fire Departments to the scene.

Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control after 20 minutes, but remained on location until 10:30 a.m. extinguishing hot spots, officials said.

"This was a challenging fire as we had to use saws and hand tools to open the decking of the second-floor balcony, as well as the walls and ceiling of the unit below the balcony in order to expose and extinguish the fire, which must have been smoldering unnoticed for some time,” Smith said. “We are fortunate that the fire was relatively contained and discovered during the day, and not when residents were sleeping."

Six fire trucks and 30 firefighters, and South Brunswick EMS responded.

According to a preliminary investigation, the fire was caused by old charcoals from a barbecue the night before. The fire is under investigation by the South Brunswick Township Fire Safety Bureau.

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