Woman Killed in NJ House Fire
A woman died in a Wednesday night house fire in Pohatcong Township that drew numerous fire crews from the area, police said.
The blaze was reported at about 5 p.m. in the 400 block of Maple Avenue, between Main Street and Zellers Alley.
A woman died in the blaze, Pohatcong police Chief Scott Robb said. Police have not identified the woman, and a messages were not immediately returned.
The fire was ruled accidental.
Aldo Freda owns the property and told a lehighvalleylive.com reporter the woman was a tenant. She was in her mid-70s and was bedridden, said Jill Snook, who had been a caretaker.
Freda was in the home when the fire started and smelled smoke, but by the time he got to the woman’s room, the thick smoke and intense heat of the flames were too much for him to enter her room.
Bystander video of the blaze showed flames in the rear of the home, and a thick plume of smoke.
Numerous fire departments responded to the blaze and the response shut down South Main Street to traffic in the area, as a hose line lay across the road at the intersection with Maple Avenue.
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Sarah Cassi may be reached at [email protected].
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