A Bayville man's home was destroyed after a fire broke out in a back room of the home shortly after 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
More than 50 volunteer firefighters from the Bayville, Pinewald and Manitou Park fire companies responded to the fire in the modest ranch home at 132 Grand Central Ave. It took nearly 45 minutes to extinguish, said Bayville Fire Chief Ken Anderson, noting a lack of fire hydrants in the area forced them to call in pumper trucks to supply water to fight the fire.
"I was out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping," said David Jones, who has lived in the wood-shingle sided home since 1971, when a neighbor called him to tell him about the fire. "He said it was bad."
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Anderson said there was heavy fire at the back of the house when he arrived, and flames were visible coming through the roof. The fire burned holes in the siding on one end of the house and left it uninhabitable, with both structural and heavy smoke damage. As firefighters began venting smoke from the home, charred rafters could be seen through a hole near the peak of the roof.
The fire forced the closure of Grand Central Avenue between Berkeley Avenue in Beachwood, by Toms River Intermediate School South, and Northern Boulevard in Berkeley for more than an hour, just as a Christmas Eve service was beginning at Morningstar Church, which is just down the street from Jones' home.
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Jones, who lived alone, was planning to stay with a neighbor Christmas Eve, he said, and was supposed to be spending Christmas with family up north, he said.
Berkeley Township Detective Scott Stoker said investigators would be taking a closer look at the fire scene in the morning to find the cause of the fire, as the county fire marshal snapped photos of the exterior of the home.
In addition to the three Berkeley fire companies and Berkeley Township police, the Forked River Fire Company responded as the FAST team, Anderson said. The Bayville First Aid Squad also responded. Beachwood Police assisted with traffic control.
