Plainsboro emergency crews rescued a family of five, who jumped from a raging fire at their second-floor apartment on Pheasant Hollow Drive in the early in the morning on October 5.
According to Plainsboro Police, the fire broke out around 4:39 a.m. at 1806 Pheasant Hollow Drive. Police officers first arrived on scene and saw visible fire coming from the front door of the second-floor apartment and began evacuating adjacent apartments.
Officers were told that the occupants in an adjacent second floor apartment had become trapped in their apartment, as fire spread into the breezeway and blocked their path through the front door. The family members, four women and one male, ranging in age from 14 to 79, were told to move to the balcony of the apartment, where they jumped 13 feet into the arms of the rescuing officers.
The trapped residents were treated for minor smoke inhalation by the Plainsboro Volunteer Rescue Squad. West Windsor Emergency Services and the Princeton First Aid Squad also responded.
One Plainsboro firefighter suffered minor back pain after falling six feet from a ladder, and one of the rescuing police officers suffered a minor back injury after falling under the weight of one of the victims who jumped. Both were taken to the University Medical Center of Princeton and were later released.
The Plainsboro Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene first and began putting out the fire. The fire spread through the attic area of the building and into several apartments. Fire companies from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Cranbury, Monroe, East Windsor, Princeton Junction, Princeton, West Windsor, and Kingston also responded to the scene. Hightstown and Lawrenceville fire departments provided standby coverage.
As a result of the fire, the building was heavily damaged, and the residents of 12 of the apartments had to find temporary shelter and supplies. The Central New Jersey Red Cross provided assistance.
The Plainsboro fire marshal and police investigators are still probing the exact cause of the blaze, which is believed to be accidental and likely caused by an ashtray, which was discarded into a plastic garbage container in the kitchen of the residence. The resident of the apartment told police she woke up to the sound of smoke detectors and alerted neighbors, who called 9-1-1.
