LYNDHURST –
Residents of a one-family house on Fourth St. in Lyndhurst were safely evacuated during a fire that broke out in the early morning on Monday, Feb. 16, authorities said.
Police Capt. John Valente said an alarm of fire was received by police at 4:23 a.m. for 425 Fourth St., prompting a response by the Lyndhurst Volunteer Fire Department.
Patrol officers arriving soon after reported heavy smoke coming from the front door and township volunteer firefighters quickly doused the fire which was confined mostly to the basement, Valente said.
Valente said the fire appears to have started from faulty wiring connected to a basement clothes dryer and some flames apparently traveled inside a wall up to a kitchen area.
Firefighters had the fire extinguished and cleanup operations begun within an hour, with assistance from the North Arlington Volunteer Fire Department’s F.A.S.T. team while Rutherford provided a pumper to stand-by at Lyndhurst Fire HQ , Valente said.
“Damage to the residence could have been much worse if not for the fact that the intense heat caused a copper water pipe to separate, burst and almost act as a sprinkler, helping to keep the fire at bay prior to Fire Department arrival,” he noted.
As of Monday, Valente said, residents were being temporarily housed with family members.
– Ron Leir
