Blaze Destroys Home of Middlesex, New Jersey Fire Chief

Copyright 2003 Courier News. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

MIDDLESEX -- A fast-moving fire destroyed the home of the borough fire chief early Wednesday, leaving investigators still searching for a cause hours later, authorities said.

The blaze erupted about 1 a.m. at 743 Voorhees Ave., the home of fire Chief Richard Reedy, and quickly spread throughout the two-story, wood-frame home, activating smoke detectors, said borough fire investigator Danny Coppola.

Reedy's wife, Sandy, and their two children, Megan, 17, and Richard Jr., 21, awoke and ran outside screaming as about 50 volunteer firefighters from the borough and Dunellen arrived. At the time, Reedy, a chemical operator, was in the middle of a double shift at National Starch & Chemical Co. in Bridgewater.

"I kept getting a constant busy signal every time I called my house," said Reedy, who had heard the report of a fire on his block on his pager. "Before I got my foot out the door, my wife called from her cell phone and let me know it was my house."

The fire ignited outside the home's side entrance, a kitchen door, and spread up the side to the master bedroom on the second floor, Coppola said. Flames shot through the roof and reached heights of 30 feet in the air, he said.

When Reedy arrived home, he didn't fight the fire, but stayed with family members, who have lived at the home for at least 18 years.

"It was hard to believe at first, but then it set in and became emotional for me," Reedy said.

One firefighter, who was unidentified, suffered an electrical shock when he entered the basement to shut off the home's utilities and stepped into foot-high water, Coppola said. The borough's rescue squad took him to Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, and he later returned, he said.

It took firefighters about 90 minutes to control the flames, which scorched Mrs. Reedy's Ford Explorer in the driveway, Coppola said. He wouldn't speculate on whether the fire appears accidental or suspicious.

Middlesex Police Lt. Kevin Reilly, a department spokesman, said the fire appears accidental, but investigators haven't determined a cause. As a routine practice involving large fires in the borough, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office was asked to assist in the investigation, he said.

Early Wednesday afternoon, yellow tape lined Reedy's property as police and fire investigators sifted through the house's charred remains. Reedy's family members gathered at the scene to console one another.

"It sounded like shots. The crackling and popping. I heard it all the way down the street," said Joan Kovach, Reedy's sister-in-law who lives two houses away.

The house has been deemed unlivable, and Reedy and his family will be staying with relatives, Kovach said.

Coppola, a former fire chief, said the home probably was beyond repair and the remains would have to be torn down. For the borough's firefighters, he said the blaze was tougher to fight than most.

"First of all, it's always difficult to be involved in a fully engulfed structure, but it's always worse when it's one of your own," he said.

Donations are being accepted to assist the Reedy Family. Please make checks out to "The Reedy Family" and mail to:
The Reedy Family
c/o Pierce Firehouse
416 A Street
Middlesex, NJ 08846

Middlesex Fire Department