Resident Escapes as Blaze Torches Burnside Avenue Home

One resident escaped without injury from a blaze in a Burnside Avenue two-family home that took nearly four hours to extinguish Monday, a fire official said.

There were no injuries in the blaze that left the home and the adjacent residence uninhabitable Monday night.

Fire Lt. Dan Thorn said the Cranford Fire Department received a report of a blaze at 35 Burnside Ave. about 3:30 p.m. Monday.

"When we arrived, we have five on two engines, so there wasn't much we could do right away," he said. "Then I called for mutual aid, and [companies from] Union, Elizabeth and Roselle came to help."

Thorn said the firefighters saw smoke along the roof edge of the building.

"It looked like the fire came from the second floor porch area and moved up into the third flood," he said.

One woman was on the second floor of the burning home, but according Thorn, a next-door neighbor saw the smoke and banged on the door, alerting the woman so that she could get to safety.

"Nobody was hurt," Thorn said. "That's the good news."

The same can't be said for the residence, a 2 1/2 story structure that had an attic on top. Thorn said the house suffered serious damage.

"There is damage throughout the whole building," Thorn said. "The entire attic was burned off and the chimney fell into the house. Basically, there is water damage on the first and second floor, plus fire damage on the second floor. But the entire third floor, the attic, is gone."

He said the house next door sustained damage to its vinyl siding, and suffered from being filled with smoke. The residents of both homes, Thorn said, planned to stay in hotels Monday night.

In addition to the fire crews, Cranford Police cordoned off the affected portion of the neighborhood. Union County Emergency Medical Services was also on the scene to provide rehabilitative services to firefighters, who finally knocked down the blaze after 7:30 p.m.

According to Thorn, the fire investigation unit from the Union County Arson Task Force is conducting a probe to determine the cause.