Officers extinguish Eastern Drive fire BY CHARLES W. KIM Staff Writer SOUTH BRUNSWICK — An alert neighbor and two police officers are credited with putting out an attic fire in a home Monday afternoon, according to police. Police said the incident took place at around 2:30 p.m., when Leon Merriweather looked out the rear window of his Eastern Drive home and saw smoke coming from a neighbor’s roof at 44 Eastern Drive. Merriweather then called 911 to report the fire, and South Brunswick police patrolmen Robert Jairdullo and Dan Olsson arrived at the scene within minutes, according to police. The officers evacuated an 18-year-old woman in the home who was unaware of the fire. They then determined the fire was coming from an attic fan on the back of the home. According to police, the two officers went to a second floor bedroom and found an access door to the attic in a closet. Jairdullo helped Olsson into the attic where he used a fire extinguisher to put out the roof and insulation that was on fire. "The fire was contained around the attic fan," South Brunswick police spokesman Detective Jim Ryan said, adding that the situation was very dangerous because of the potential for the fire to spread. "A fire can double in size within minutes," Ryan said. Police said there were no injuries in the fire. Firefighters from Kendall Park and Monmouth Junction Fire Departments responded to the fire, police said. Police believe the fire appeared to have been caused by an animal having made a nest in the attic fan. With the hot temperatures of Monday afternoon, the attic fan activated and the fire was started, according to police.