Lakewood fire that hospitalized three did not involve arson, investigators say

LAKEWOOD — A fire that tore through a township home and sent three people to the hospital is being blamed on discarded smoking material, according to investigators.

Among those injured was a Lakewood police officer who rescued a man trapped in the home, officials said.

The blaze began at 1:20 a.m. Saturday in a house on Joe Parker Road, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated and found no signs of arson.

“Upon arrival, emergency personnel observed heavy fire coming from the front and back of the structure,” officials said in a statement, which said one of the occupants of the home was missing when fire crews arrived.

The unidentified man was later found and rescued by a Lakewood police officer, whose identity was also not released.

The missing man was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and is listed in critical but stable condition.

The officer who rescued the man was transported to Monmouth Medical Center-Southern Campus in Lakewood, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and released, officials said.

Also hospitalized was an unidentified firefighter who suffered a cardiac event and was transported to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township, where he was treated and released.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad and other law enforcement agencies found the fire “originated underneath a screened-in deck attached to the structure, and that the cause of the fire was accidental due to discarded smoking material.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of four books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Lakewood fire that hospitalized three did not involve arson, investigators say