Fast-moving Fire That Destroyed a Colonia Home is Under Investigation

A late afternoon fire that raced through a Morningside Road home in Colonia was so severe, it caused what one firefighter called a "backdraft" that blasted out the opposite side of the house from where the fire started.

Fire officials were unsure what started the fire Sunday at the brick facaded, two-story home, but whatever it was, the powerful, fast-moving blaze moved quickly through the attic area of the house.

"The structure isn't safe. There's a lot of water in there," said Colonia Fire Commissioner James Souza, Jr. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and there were no reported injuries, he said.

The family was at home at the time of the fire, said Chris Chernosky, a friend and neighbor who lives across the street. Chris is also the name of the wife and mother of the family whose home was destroyed, Chernosky said.

"We weren't home when it happened. We came rushing back when we heard," Chernosky said. "The fire was raging when we got here."

The displaced family had temporarily taken refuge in the home of the Gerones, another nearby neighbor, while the mother was using Chernosky's house to bathe. "Chris is taking a shower, and I got some clothes for her," Chernosky said.

Family members were downstairs watching TV when they smelled smoke, Chernosky said, while Chris and a daughter "were upstairs taking a nap." The husband had tried to put the fire out with a garden hose, while his wife and children escaped. 

The fire started in the left rear part of the house, and quickly raced up into the attic, and went from the left side of the house to the right. Firefighters responded quickly, and entered the house through the front door, when "something popped," Souza said.

Kelly Tarsia, who lives down the street, was one of the first people who saw the fire spread through the roof, and who saw the blast.

"It moved so fast, and then there was this explosion. It blew off part of the house," Tarsia said, pointing to the right side of the structure that was bent and bowed from the blast. A window screen was blown onto the lawn from the explosion.

Firefighters in the building when the blast happened raced outside, Tarsia said. "They ran out the front door after the explosion," she said. "The fire was so fast and so intense. It was eating through the roof like nothing I've ever seen. All of the windows just blew out."

Lisa Caposiena's son, Rick, a volunteer with the Colonia Fire Dept., had just left to return to his home in Newark when he got word about the fire on Morningside Road.

"He came right back, driving a firetruck," Caposiena said, pointing to her son on the fire vehicle. "He wants to be a firefighter in Newark."

Multiple fire departments responded to the blaze, said Colonia Fire Chief Bob Green. They incuded the Colonia Fire Dept.; Iselin 11 and 9; Avenel; Woodbridge; Fords Hopelawn; and Clark. Woodbridge police and the Colonia First Aid Squad were also on the scene, Green said.