Three volunteer fire companies responded to a townhouse complex fire April 3 in Marlboro Township, N.J. A police officer, off-duty firefighter, and firefighter on his way home from a nearby firehouse were first on the scene. They began clearing residents from the complex shortly before the entire structure was involved.

Once Robertsville, Morganville and Manalapan Volunteer Fire Companies arrived they quickly began interior operations where they could, search and exposed the townhouses and mounted a heavy exterior attack.

The blaze was brought under control after approximately one hour. Damage spread to an adjacent townhouse and a third building was ventilated as a precautionary measure. After several hours of mop up, the first two-units were a total loss and demolished the following morning. The remaining four units were saved.

— Incident Report submitted by Kevin Skochil