Crime & Safety

Fire Damages Lawrence Township Home

The homeowner and his wife were asleep when the fire started but they were roused from their slumber and were able to escape to safety after smoke detectors sounded the alarm.

Fire damaged a home on Carnation Place in Lawrence Township early today (Tuesday, July 5), but the residents were able to escape without injury thanks to smoke detectors that roused them from their sleep and alerted them to the blaze.

Homeowner Thomas Kostrzewa, 75, and his wife were sleeping in their bedroom on the second floor when the fire started in their laundry room on the first floor, according to Lawrence Township Police Sgt. Chris Longo.

“They were asleep. They were awakened by the sound of smoke alarms,” Longo said. “They came downstairs and saw fire in their laundry room. They exited the house and called 911.”

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He said township police received that 911 call at 12:31 a.m. and immediately alerted volunteer firefighters from the Slackwood, Lawrence Road and Lawrenceville fire companies.

Longo arrived on the scene first. “When I got there, there was smoke showing from the attic vent on the east side of the house,” he said. “When I went around back there was visible fire venting from the laundry room window.”

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The fire was so intense that it burned through the door leading to the outside from the laundry room, he said.

But that heat also melted the soldering on a pipe going to the home’s water heater, and water from the ruptured pipe helped “knock down” some of the flames, firefighters said.

Lawrence firefighters battled with blaze with the help of the Pennington Road and West Trenton fire companies of Ewing Township and Hamilton Fire Co. of Hamilton Township. There were no injuries reported.

The fire was ultimately contained to the laundry room, however the rest of the house sustained smoke damage, Longo said. He said Kostrzewa and his wife planned to stay with relatives until their home can be repaired.

He said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the township fire marshal’s office, but he confirmed that it was not suspicious in nature.


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