FD Responds to Church Street Fire Early Monday

South Orange firefighters responded to a report of a structure fire at 56 Church St. at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday. Upon arriving at the scene, they saw smoke coming through the front door and found that the occupants were already getting out of the building.

The fire was in the ceiling of the basement and had already moved to the first floor, so firefighters responded by stretching a line into the basement. The ceiling and walls on the first floor were opened to extinguish the remaining fire.

Fire officials said the cause of the fire appeared to have been an electrical short in the basement ceiling, and it was ruled accidental. Electrical service for the structure was shut down after firefighters decided that there were too many cross-connections between the first and second floor to isolate the problem. The building was ruled uninhabitable, and the occupants were planning to stay with friends and family.

The owner was instructed to contact the building department on Monday morning.