The fire occurred around 12:30 p.m. at the Toy Chest, said Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, a city public safety spokesperson.
She said, “Upon arrival, JCFD observed a small working fire in the toy chest store. The fire caused moderate smoke conditions inside the mall.”
“The sprinkler system went off and helped contain the fire,” she added. “Additionally, the fire department’s quick response kept the fire under control without any fire extension to any other stores.”
No injuries were reported.
Officials on the scene reported the cause may have involved the hot water heater and duct work. The Fire Department is still investigating.
There were no injuries in the fire at the 184-unit five-story building, a statement from Kevin C. Batzel, chief of the Brick Township Bureau of Fire Safety said.
Brick Township emergency dispatch received an alert about a waterflow activation at the apartment complex at 3:47 p.m. and first responders found an active fire in a second-floor apartment, Batzel said.
The fire happened in a hamper in a bedroom and the fire sprinkler head in the bedroom activated, dousing the flames, and firefighters confirmed the fire was under control within minutes of their arrival, then made quick work of smoke that lingered, he said.
The fire was contained to that room with some minor water and smoke damage to that apartment and apartments on either side and on the first floor, Batzel said.
Residents of all of the apartments except those that suffered damage were able to return to normal within hours, Batzel said.
“The bureau would like to thank the quick response of all the Brick Township fire departments, our mutual aid companies, Brick Township Police, Brick EMS and Townshipo Emergency Management for their quick response,” the statement said.
“It should be noted that the working fire sprinkler system and smoke alarms activation kept damage to a minimum in conjunction with the quick fire department response,” Batzel said. “Working alarms and the presence of fire sprinklers are imperative to fire and life safety and no doubt kept the fire small and controllable with minimal disruption to the building.”
Fire Chiefs Joe Licandro and Tom Bisbal of Fire District 1 were in control at the scene, and inspectors Joseph Sansone and Paul Matula from the fire bureau investigated.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Bill Bartos, firefighters responded to Deals & Discounts just after 9:50 a.m. Upon their arrival they found heavy smoke coming from the front of the store.
Handlines were used in conjunction with the building’s sprinkler system to bring the fire under control by 10:10 a.m.
The Wood-Ridge Fire Department was alerted to the fire by a central station monitored smoke detector system which covers 251B through 255 Valley Boulevard, according to Wood-Ridge Chief of Department Kenneth Schulz.
Upon arrival of Fire Chief officers, an employee of the Empanada Shop reported smoke in the basement of his establishment.
The Chief officers found a working fire in the basement of the adjoining business, Emilia Romagna Restaurant. A fire sprinkler system in this basement kept the fire contained until first arriving Wood-Ridge Fire Department companies aggressively extinguished the fire preventing further spread, said Schulz.
The fire has closed Emilia Romagna indefinitely, according to Schulz. There was minor smoke damage to the businesses at 251 B and 251A Valley Blvd.
The one block stretch of Valley Boulevard, from Marlboro Road to Windsor Road, was closed for most of the day.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Squad.
Mutual aid fire departments assisting on the second alarm at the scene were Carlstadt, Hasbrouck Heights, and Wallington. Little Ferry, Lodi, and Moonachie covered Wood-Ridge headquarters and responded to a second fire alarm in another part of town.
The Italian restaurant anchors the stretch of stores which includes a butcher, physical therapy office, nail salon, convenience store, juice bar, and several other restaurants.
The fire-suppression system doused a fire in the living room of a first-floor apartment, with follow-up effort by volunteer firefighters who answered the 12:15 p.m. alarm, said Chief Bobby Holiday.
No injuries occurred, he said.
As of 12:40 p.m., the cause of the fire was under investigation, and it remained to be determined if the apartment would be immediately habitable, Holiday said.
The three-story River Street Commons, bounded by Shrewsbury and Bridge avenues at Catherine Street, occupies the former River Street School building.
The Monmouth Junction Fire Department was dispatched to the Sonoco Corp. at 5 Stults Road off Route 130 in the Dayton section of South Brunswick for a fire alarm activation around 8 p.m. Aug. 27.
Shortly after receiving the call from the alarm company reporting the fire alarm, employees from the business called 9-1-1 and reported an active fire in the warehouse, according to information provided by the South Brunswick Police Department.
Monmouth Junction Fire Chief Scott Smith and Deputy Chief Sean Wert arrived to find a heavy smoke condition inside the building, according to reports.
Firefighters stretched hoselines inside and located palletized goods on fire, which was quickly contained, according to the statement.
A total of 10 fire trucks and over 50 firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire, including firefighters from Monmouth Junction, Kendall Park, Kingston, Jamesburg, Plainsboro, North Brunswick Co. No. 2, Monroe Fire District No. 3 and Hightstown.
Several large trailer-mounted fans from the Edison Fire Department were used to help ventilate the smoke condition created by burning plastic and cardboard.
Firefighters from Brookview, East Brunswick District No. 1, Griggstown and Montgomery Fire Co. No. 2 covered South Brunswick fire stations during the incident.
Ambulances from South Brunswick, North Brunswick and Monroe responded to the fire.
One firefighter was treated at the scene for heat stress and transported to Princeton hospital as a precaution, according to the statement.
“Fortunately, the sprinkler system contained the fire to several palletized stacks of goods in the warehouse,” Smith said in the statement. “It was a humid evening, so we had to rotate our firefighters frequently as they moved goods in the heavily packed warehouse in order to reach the seat of the fire to complete extinguishment. We even had firefighters operating fork-lifts to move unburned product.”
The fire is under investigation by the South Brunswick Township Fire Safety Bureau.
All mall employees and everyone shopping inside was told to leave the mall immediately.
The fire was contained between the ansel system, the sprinkler system and a fire extinguisher; it was quickly extinguished, according to Amy Bellisano, general manager of the Woodbridge Center Mall.
Nobody was injured. All businesses inside the mall, except Salad Bistro, opened as normal on Wednesday. All the water was also cleaned up.
