Officials Release Additional Details On South Brunswick Fire

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The South Brunswick Fire Chief released additional details on the Monday blaze and said the outcome could have “easily been tragic” if the fire was earlier in the morning.

The Monday morning fire witnessed dramatic scenes of a father and child dropping from a second-floor window, to escape.

At 8:17 a.m. Monday, March 7, the Monmouth Junction Fire Department was dispatched to Building 1 in the South Ridge Woods apartment complex for a reported structure fire.

Firefighters and police found heavy fire in the rear of the building coming from the second and third-floor balconies and starting to spread up the outside of the building into the attic space, officials said.

Residents were reporting people still inside the 24-unit building, with the common hallway rapidly filling with smoke. Within minutes, a father and son appeared at a second-floor window, unable to escape their apartment, officials said.

The father broke out the window and dropped his son to first responders below, and then jumped out the window himself. They sustained minor injuries. Read More: Dad Throws Child Out Of Window To Escape Fire In South Brunswick

Meanwhile, firefighters entered the building to perform primary searches but were forced to exit due to the heavy fire conditions in the rear of the building, officials said.

The rapidly spreading fire caused the third-floor rear balcony and a section of the roof to collapse. Master streams from three aerial fire trucks were used to extinguish the fire. “This was a total team effort to extinguish this fire and ensure all occupants were able to escape,” Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith said. “We were faced with extremely heavy fire conditions immediately on arrival, along with reports of people still inside. Fortunately, all of the occupants were able to escape the fire. If this fire was earlier in the morning when people may have still been asleep, the outcome could have easily been tragic.”

Over 50 firefighters from Monmouth Junction, Kingston, Kendall Park, Plainsboro, Jamesburg, Monroe, Brookview and North Brunswick #2 responded to the 3-alarm blaze. Firefighters from Old Bridge, Montgomery and Griggstown covered the South Brunswick fire stations during the time. The fire is currently under investigation by the South Brunswick Township Fire Safety Bureau.

The building has been deemed uninhabitable until a determination can be made as to whether any of the apartments can be re-occupied. The Red Cross responded to assist those residents displaced by the fire.

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