Fire destroys N.B. home Mon.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KENNETH S. TERNLUND A fire at 1480 Axel Ave. in North Brunswick destroyed the home and damaged two neighboring houses early Monday morning.

NORTH BRUNSWICK- Ahouse fire early Monday morning destroyed a home on the corner of Axel Avenue and Huron Road.

The fire started at 12:45 a.m. at 1480 Axel Avenue, according to township Fire Marshal Craig Snediker.

Two residents were home sleeping at the time of the fire. The husband told officials he woke up hearing a sound coming from the bathroom, and when he went to check the bathroom he could not breathe. At that time he noticed a fog, which investigators believe was smoke, throughout the entire house. The man said he immediately alerted his wife to wake up and start opening windows.

According to Snediker, the husband then went next door to a neighbor's house to call 911 because there was no power in the house and both residents could hardly breathe. They managed to escape without injury.

"The initial investigation is leading toward a possible electrical malfunction or surge that created a small smoldering fire in between the first and second floor of the house," the fire marshal said. "[It was] a concealed fire that created a smoky condition but without oxygen it could not spread. Once the homeowners started to introduce oxygen by opening windows it fueled the fire and the fire intensified and destroyed the home."

The fire is still under investigation. Foul play or intentional fires have been ruled out.

Snediker said the adjacent houses sustained damage to their sidings. The original home will have to be knocked down.

Fire Companies 1, 2 and 3 from North Brunswick, along with companies from Franklin Park, New Brunswick, Milltown, East Brunswick and Plainsboro were on scene for the three-alarm fire.

- Jennifer Amato