Clark Man Dead in a "Ball of Fire" Motorcycle Accident in Avenel

A 26-year-old Clark man died early Sunday morning after crashing into a telephone pole caused his motorcycle to go up in "a ball of flame" as his friends watched.

At about 3 am, Joseph Urban was driving his motorcycle down St. Georges Ave. in Avenel toward the Rahway border, along with his friends who were traveling by car. Somewhere around Avenel St., Urban sped past his pals, who followed behind him and temporarily lost sight of their friend on the motorcycle. 

They didn't catch up to Urban until they approached the bend in the road near Peach Tree Plaza and the K-Mart in Avenel. That's when they saw "a ball of flame" - that was Urban's motorcycle, minus Urban, on fire.

Urban, according to the police report, had apparently struck the curb at the Peach St. intersection, where St. Georges Ave. bends towards Rahway. Urban apparently hit a yellow gas line indicator and a telephone pole right next to the entrance to K-Mart where he was ejected from the motorcycle.

Urban's body was found by Woodbridge Patrolmen Dean Janowski and John Dutcher at that entrance, while the flame-engulfed motorcycle traveled across St. Georges Ave. toward the Home Depot across the street where it finally stopped. 

Police said they found human remains on the telephone pole, and Urban's helmet was discovered about 50 feet away from his body.

Urban's friend, Joseph Salerno, was performing CPR on Urban when police arrived, but it was discontinued when it was apparent Urban was dead from major head trauma. He was pronounced dead at 3:20 am by a doctor from Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center at Rahway.

The Avenel Fire Dept. extinguished the blazing motorcycle. The incident is still under investigation.