Mother, 4 children escape from night fire, Trenton, NJ 11/17/08

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Mother, 4 children escape from night fire

By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE

STAFF WRITER, http://www.nj.com

TRENTON - A woman and her four young children escaped unharmed but were left temporarily homeless by a fire that damaged their row house in the 200 block of Cortland Street early yesterday.

While they are still investigating, investigators believe an electrical fault may have sparked the blaze in a bedroom on the top floor of the two-story home, according to acting Battalion Chief Todd Fell, who directed firefighting efforts.

It was shortly before 3:25 a.m. when the city's 911 communications center received multiple phone calls reporting the fire, with some of the 911 callers saying they feared people were trapped inside the burning house.

Firefighters from Engines 6, 10, 7 and 1, Ladders 4 and 1, and Rescue 1 responded and arrived to find flames leaping from the two second-floor windows at the front of the home, Fell said. He said fire crews simultaneous mounted an aggressive interior attack on the blaze and a search for trapped residents.

Luckily, Fell said, no one was found inside the house and the residents - the woman and her four children - were soon located safe outside. He said the woman told firefighters she awoke to a feeling of intense heat and, realizing her home was on fire, quickly evacuated with her children.

The blaze was brought under control within a half-hour, with most of the actual fire damaged contained to the second-floor room where the blaze began, Fell said. But the rest of the house sustained intense smoke and heat damage, he said.

The Red Cross was called out to assist the woman and her children with temporary housing and other aid Fell said. He said the Red Cross was also helping four or five people who were temporarily forced out of a neighboring home, which was damaged by water from the firefighting efforts.