Candle starts house fire on Hickory Lane
Family safe but damage necessitates house to be torn down
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer
Atwo-story, single-family Colonial house on Hickory Lane in North Brunswick must be demolished after a house fire damaged the structure on Sunday morning.

DANIEL HULSHIZER staff A house at 10 Hickory Lane in North Brunswick suffered extensive fire damage early Sunday morning.

The fire department received a phone call from the Nam family around 1:38 a.m. reporting a fire in the basement, according to township Fire Marshal Craig Snediker. The three township fire companies arrived, along with mutual aid from New Brunswick, Milltown, East Franklin, East Brunswick and South Brunswick, as well as the Middlesex County fire coordinators. The three-alarm fire was finally under control around 3:41 a.m.

According to Snediker, the 15- year-old son said he was in the basement with a candle on the coffee table. He had set his cell phone alarm for 1:30 a.m. and fell asleep, noticing the fire when he woke up. He went upstairs to get some water, came back downstairs, went upstairs again, causing a time delay of roughly eight minutes between the start of the fire and the fire call.

All of the occupants of the residence were able to get out without injuries, but three firemen sustained slight injuries. Two of the three members of the initial attack crew sustained burns to their ears. As they entered through the door, the water vented through the window and created an intensity of flames, according to Snediker. Another firefighter suffered from smoke inhalation.

The fire marshal said the investigation showed that the fire did start in the basement, as the coffee table was found burned halfway through where the candle was sitting.

Snediker also said that the house was deemed unsafe and needs to be torn down. The back of the house is where most of the fire damage occurred, and the right side of the second floor collapsed into the first floor.

According to Councilwoman Cathy Nicola, who was at the scene Sunday morning, the father is a minister at a Presbyterian church in Edison and went to his church service at 10 a.m., showing his resilience.

Any residents wishing to provide assistance to the Nams can contact the township at (732) 247- 0922.