On November 7th at approximately 3:35am police officers Chris Clune and Arthur Barnek were conducting residential patrol in Ocean Township, NJ.
As they traveled along Maidenstone Drive they noticed ash in the air and observed some smoke in the distance.
As they continued to towards the smoke they observed flames and now heavy smoke coming from the rear of a residence on Maidentsone Drive.
Barnek and Clune requested the fire department and immediately ran towards the house, woke and evacuated the family.
They first encountered the homeowner holding a small child, she indicated that there was also another child in an upstairs bedroom.
Barnek quickly ran upstairs and retrieved the child from her crib and exited the residence.
After Barnek exited the residence Clune conducted a search of the first floor locating another family member sleeping in a bedroom.
He was escorted from the residence and all family members were accounted for.
Both fire districts, Wanamassa and Oakhurst responded to the scene and were able to extinguish the fire in the rear of the home.
District 2 Fire Marshall, Thomas Haege responded to the scene to investigate.
Haege indicated that the origin of the fire is from an exterior electrical light planted in the mulch.
The fire remains under investigation by his office.
Courtesy of the Township of Ocean (New Jersey) Police Department
