On Nov. 7 police officers on patrol in Ocean Township saw ash and smoke filling the air a distance away and as they got closer discovered flames coming from the rear of a residence on Maidenstone Drive.
At about 3:35 a.m. Officers Chris Clune and Arthur Barnek were conducting residential patrol when they saw the fire and alerted the fire department before running toward the house, waking and evacuating the family.
The officers first encountered the homeowner holding a small child who indicated that there was also another child in an upstairs bedroom.
Officer Barnek quickly ran upstairs and retrieved the child from her crib and left the residence.
After Barnek left the residence Clune conducted a search of the first floor locating another family member sleeping in a bedroom.
He was escorted from the residence and all family members were accounted for.
Both fire districts, Wanamassa and Oakhurst responded to the scene and were able to extinguish the fire in the rear of the home. District 2 Fire Marshall, Thomas Haegy responded to the scene to investigate and indicated that the origin of the fire is from an exterior electrical light planted in the mulch. The fire remains under investigation by his office.
