The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
One man was suffered smoke inhalation April 17 in an early-morning fire in a Reler Lane apartment.
The unidentified 35-year-old man was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment, police said.
The fire was called in at about 12:59 a.m., according to a press release from township police. The caller, who was the injured man, reported smelling smoke, the release said.
Officers saw that smoke was in the man’s apartment, and also determined that five other apartments were empty.
Firefighters from Community, Franklin Park, Griggstown and Middlebush fire departments responded and found fire in the floor of the upstairs apartment, according to the release.
An investigation by the township Office of Fire Prevention found that the fire was caused by an electrical issue between the upstairs and downstairs apartments, the release said.
Power was cut off to the building, which was deemed uninhabitable, the release said.
Residents of the affected apartments were found shelter in a local hotel by the American Red Cross, according to the release.
