Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: FIRE DESTROYS VACANT HOME

red-bank-fire-28-rector-121218-3-500x375-7724427Volunteer firefighters on Ladder 91 returning after cutting into the roof shortly before an evacuation alarm was sounded. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot-topic_03-220x138-220x138-7378486Fire destroyed a vacant Red Bank house under renovation Wednesday morning.

The rush-hour blaze at 28 Rector Place sent a blanket of white smoke over the downtown and points east for about two hours.

red-bank-fire-28-rector-121218-1-500x467-1007784Police Chief Darren McConnell snapped the above photo after determining the house was empty. A portable heater can be seen in front of the steps. (Photo below by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

red-bank-fire-28-rector-121218-6-220x165-7161735There was no immediate report of injuries in the blaze, called in at about 8:20 a.m.

Police Chief Darren McConnell, who spotted the smoke from nearby, said he was the first responder on the scene, where he found the front porch ablaze. He said he determined that the house was empty of occupants.

Volunteer firefighters fought the blaze as it traveled into the attic, where it erupted in heavy flame at 9 a.m., prompting a blaring of truck horns to alert them to immediately evacuate.

The fire appeared to be largely under control by 9:45 a.m. Fire Chief Stu Jensen was not immediately available to discuss a possible cause.

The house is located between Route 35 and West Front Street, where north-south traffic has been prohibited in recent days for work on the New Jersey Transit crossing on Shrewsbury Avenue.

The property changed hands in September, when Shimshon Herz of Lakewood bought it for $215,000, according to Monmouth County records.

redbankgreen was unable to immediately determine if building permits had been issued.

A neighbor, John Talarico, told redbankgreen that contractors working on the house Monday were using a portable heater on the porch, with a metal tube pumping heat into the house.

Markings on the device indicated that it was a Remington brand kerosene heater. Fire Marshal Tommy Welsh said he had not yet had a chance to inspect the device to determine if it had a role in the fire.

The heater was on the front lawn when he arrived, McConnell said. He didn’t know if it had been moved after the blaze began, he told redbankgreen.

Firefighters from Fair Haven, Middletown and Shrewsbury also responded.

The fire was the second on the block in 15 months. In September, 2017, an early morning blaze caused heavy damage to a home closer to the Route 35 intersection.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED TRUCKS AT RED ROCK
A small dishwasher fire at Red Rock Tap and Grill was put out quickly by firefighters overnight, causing minimal damage. Red Bank Fire Depar ...
CREATIVE COVER UP
The windows of Pearl Street Consignment on Monmouth Street were smashed when a driver crashed their car through them injuring an employee la ...
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...