Mother hurt, children saved
Fast action by bystanders, firefighters in U.T. fire
SENTINEL STAFF
SEAVILLE – One person was airlifted to a burn center and a firefighter hurt in a serious daytime blaze Friday, April 30, at a multi-family building on Route 50.
Things could have been far worse.
A mother and four children escaped the blaze. Sources indicate the mother suffered serious burns and was airlifted to a hospital.
Seaville Fire Chief Steve Schaffer credits the actions of bystanders with preventing a fatal result. Several people were trapped inside the burning building. Firefighters and the bystanders helped an adult and four children, ages 1 to 7 years old, escape a second-floor window when the only other means of exit was blocked by fire. The volunteer company did not identify the adult, but other sources said she is the mother of the four children.
“The civilian bystanders are to be commended for their collective quick thinking and selflessness today. If not for their rapid and heroic action, this devastating event could have proved fatal for the victims involved,” Schaffer said in a prepared statement on Friday.
According to that release, Seaville Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a structure fire at 12:20 p.m. on April 30, along with the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company, Tuckahoe Fire Company, the Upper Township EMS and State Police.
“Seaville Fire personnel arrived in 1 minute 26 seconds and confirmed a working structure fire in a multi-family, mixed-use building. It was immediately discovered that there was significant fire in a second floor rear apartment, as well as the shared roof system of the building,” reads the release, distributed by Upper Township officials.
At that point, the residents were still trapped inside. Five people who are not on-duty firefighters were trying to rescue them. Firefighters from the Seaville company helped the Good Samaritans and got five people out of the building.
Someone in a different apartment on the second floor was able to evacuate without help or injury.
Because people were trapped inside, the fire was upgraded to a second alarm, which meant more help arrived from the Ocean View Volunteer Fire Company, Dennisville Volunteer Fire Company, Ocean City Fire Department and paramedics from AtlantiCare.
The fire was brought under control within 40 minutes. Crews remained on scene for about four hours to completely extinguish the blaze and to assist investigators.
No identifying information was immediately released about the victims, beyond the ages of the children. An adult, identified elsewhere as the mother, was airlifted to the burn center at Temple University Hospital and a firefighter was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries and released. The four young children were treated at the scene by EMS and released to a guardian.
According to Schaffer, community members have launched an effort to help the family displaced by the blaze.
The Upper Township Division of EMS FMBA Local 394 is collecting gift cards for the family to buy clothes and food, organized through the organization’s Facebook page. They can be dropped off at the rescue squad headquarters, 2028 Tuckahoe Road. They are not collecting clothing or food donations at this time.
“Yesterday the Upper Township first responders responded to a major fire in the Seaville section of town. This fire displaced a single mother and her four young kids. The mother at this time is in ICU at Temple Burn Center,” the organization posted on Saturday morning.
“The fire is being investigated by the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office, Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, and New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s Office. As of the time of this press release, an official cause determination has not been released,” reads the statement from Seaville Fire Rescue.
The building has commercial space on the ground floor and apartments upstairs. It had been home to the Route 50 Trading Post, which offered crafts, food, coffee and other items. The business posted in September of 2020 that it would close permanently, and the commercial space is listed as available for rent.
On the Marmora Fire Company Facebook page, members wrote that the firefighters had just cleared from responding to multiple mulch fires in the parking lot of the ShopRite when the structure fire call came in.
“Seaville firefighters were met with heavy fire and multiple people trapped. Fortunately through the efforts of several Seaville firefighters and additional off-duty firefighters and civilians all were rescued. After all occupants were accounted for efforts turned to getting the fire under control,” reads the post from the fire company.
Serious collision with injuries on Garden State Parkway
Two days earlier, the Marmora volunteer company and Upper Township EMS responded to a serious collision on the Garden State Parkway, at mile marker 26.9, with two people taken by helicopter to Cooper Hospital in Camden.
The crash involved an overturned vehicle and people thrown from the vehicles.
“Upon arrival first responders found a chaotic scene with several patients ejected and one patient still in the vehicle,” reads a post describing the crash.
Firefighters from Ocean City and Somers Point responded, along with rescue teams from Egg Harbor Township, Belleplain, Sea Isle City, AtlantiCare paramedic and the AtlantiCare Mass Casualty Unit.
“An EMS “strike team” consisting of ambulances from Cape May County including Avalon, Middle Township, and North Wildwood, were either en-route or staged to assist on the parkway or to cover the township in case of another emergency,” the fire company posed to its Facebook page, which said state police are investigating the crash.