SOFD Helps West Orange with Two-Alarm Fire

The responded to a fire in neighboring West Orange on Monday morning as a two-alarm fire consumed a vacant home on High Street.

West Orange Fire Chief Peter Smeraldo told Patch the single-family home was undergoing renovations and that no one was inside when the fire broke out shortly before 6 a.m.

He said the flames began on the second floor and caused extensive fire and smoke damage to the wood-frame dwelling. Construction equipment fell from the second floor to the first floor of the house, he said.

According to the police report, smoke and flames were bursting from the second floor window of the home when police arrived on scene.

Arson investigators were called to the area but determined the fire to be accidental, the report said.

Fire crews arrived on scene minutes after they received the call and had extinguished the main body of the fire before 6:30 a.m. No injuries were reported.

Smeraldo said the fire may have been related to the renovations and caused by spontaneous combustion.

PSEG was also notified and cut power and gas to the home. The home remains uninhabitable. 

Orange and Montclair fire departments provided mutual aid. East Orange and Maplewood units also provided coverage to the township.