3-Alarm Fire Damages Parish Center At Toms River Church

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A three-alarm fire damaged the parish center at Holy Cross Lutheran Church on Tuesday, but there were no injuries, fire and church officials said.

The Silverton Volunteer Fire Company responded to a fire alarm about 1 p.m. Tuesday, which was quickly upgraded to a structure fire when firefighters arrived, said John Novak, chief fire inspector for the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention.

Officials with Holy Cross Lutheran Church said the fire was in the parish center, which was empty at the time.

Children and staff were evacuated from the other buildings, Novak said, while firefighters battled the blaze, which was in the stage area of the approximately 9,000-square-foot building, he said.

The firefighters "initiated a quick interior attack on the fire with multiple hose lines," Novak said, and the fire was under control within 30 minutes from the time of the alarm.

Firefighters from Silverton, Pleasant Plains, East Dover, Toms River Companies No. 1 and No. 2, Island Heights and Ocean Beach responded, Novak said.

"By now you may have heard about an incident here at Holy Cross today," Holy Cross officials said Tuesday afternoon in a post on the church's Facebook page. "I wanted to let everyone know that all are safe and sound, especially our Pre-School children and staff members who have been real troopers!"

"Our thanks to the first responders who are mopping up now have everything under control except for some of our nerves," the post said.

Church officials are trying to assess the damage and asked church members to not try to stop by to check in.

"We'll try to keep everyone posted as we have more information," church officials said.

The fire is under investigation by the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention Inspector Kevin Britton and the Toms River Police Department Detective Ryan Parente.

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