Kitchen Fire Damages Apartment at Heritage Village

A culinary mishap sparked a fire that damaged the kitchen of an apartment in the Heritage Village building in the 1900 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) in Lawrence Township this evening (Wednesday, June 13).

It was about 5:35 p.m. when township police and firefighters were alerted to the fire on the second floor of the three-story structure, which is occupied by offices on the first floor and apartments for people aged 55 and older on the second and third floors.

Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Michael Oakley said a resident of the apartment was cooking when oil spilled out of a frying pan on the stovetop and ignited a fire that spread to the cabinets above.

The blaze set off the building’s fire alarm system. A building maintenance worker, responding to check on the alarm, used a portable fire extinguisher to knock down the flames, Oakley said.

Although most of the fire was out when police and firefighters arrived, much of the second floor was filled with smoke.

While police helped residents out the building, firefighters finished dousing the fire and made sure it had not spread into the wall behind the cabinets, Oakley said. Firefighters used fans to clear away the smoke.

About 50 people were evacuated from the building for about a half-hour. There were no injuries reported.

Firefigthers from all three Lawrence Township volunteer fire companies - Slackwood, Lawrence Road and Lawrenceville - resonded to the blaze, along with Hamilton Township's Hamilton Fire Co.