Fatal Essex County Fire Claims Senior Citizen’s Life; Injures 2 Others: Prosecutor

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Police are investigating a fatal fire in Essex County on Sunday that claimed the life of a 72-year-old woman and injured two others, including her son, authorities say.

The fire broke out around 5 a.m. on the 100 block of Midland Avenue in East Orange, according to a joint statement from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the East Orange fire and police departments.

Authorities said that nine people occupied the home at the time of the blaze, which claimed the life of homeowner Maureen Phillips, 72. Emergency responders discovered her body among the burned debris after the fire, prosecutors said.

The other eight residents of the home escaped the fire, but Phillips’ 38-year-old son suffered an injury during the incident, as well as a 52-year-old woman who was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.

The other uninjured occupants of the home ranged in age from one-year-old to 36-years-old, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, flames also spread to an adjacent unoccupied structure on Midland Avenue. The cause of the fire is still undetermined and an investigation is ongoing.