Crime & Safety

Early Morning Electric Blaze Spreads Through Residence

50 Lincoln Avenue West catches fire. No injuries reported.

Cranford Police roused six sleeping individuals at 50 Lincoln Avenue West as an electrical fire spread through the residence around 4:30 a.m. Friday.

"We all had to run out of the house," Landlord Roger Poirer said, who lives on the first floor. Four residents and two visitors were in the building at the time, he added.

When the Cranford Fire Department arrived, the fire was burning on the outside of the first floor and in the basement of the three-story residence, Chief Leonard Dolan said of the Cranford Fire Department.

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Since it was an electrical fire, firefighters had to wait a half hour until PE&G turned off the electricity before fully dousing the fire. While waiting, firefighters kept the blaze contained to the first floor and the basement, Dolan said. He added that the fire was most likely caused by an overheating electric wire.

A passerby walking a dog first spotted the blaze, originating by the electrical meters on the first floor, Dolan added. The passerby called the Cranford Police.

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Uopn hearing that there was an electrical fire in the building, resident Anne Kettles said,"I just wanted to get the people I loved out."

Reflecting on the incident while all six residents were wrapped up in blankets and watching firefighters douse the flames, Alex Kettles said, "everyone's all right. So if everything goes up in flames it doesn't matter. As long as the people are out."

Cranford First Aid Squad also responded to the scene. There were no injuries reported.


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