Madaline Drive Fire Consumes Condo

Fire companies from around Woodbridge responded to a smokey Avenel blaze this afternoon that was so intense, it melted the vinyl siding from a neighboring building.

The condo, one of six dwellings in the same building at 1505 Madaline Drive, was called in at approximately 1:30 pm. The fire burned hot and fast, partially melting the vinyl siding on a similar structure across a shared driveway.

There were no reported injuries in the blaze, which was largely extinguished by 4 pm, according to an . There was no word on the cause of the fire.

Nearby, the condo owner, Felicia Kelly, stood with a cell phone to her ear and a look of shock on her face. 

"I can't believe it," Kelly said in the cell phone and to people nearby who watched as firefighters fought the blaze from the ground and from a ladder truck.

Kelly was working from her home office on the third floor of the condo when she said she "kept smelling smoke.

"I didn't know what it was. I kept smelling something. It smelled like incense."

Kelly said she was going around the house, trying to find the source of the burning smell when she saw a lick of fire at the corner of the condo's balcony.

The balcony, made of pressure treated lumber, was over the common garage area and on the side of the building.

"There were two plastic chairs out there and an empty flower pot. I called 911, and they told me to get out of the house," she said.

Kelly thought it took too long for the fire department to respond, and thought because of the delay, that is why her condo was largely destroyed in the blaze.

"I should've used a garden hose and put it out myself," Kelly said. "Now I've got no home."

Several fire companies from Woodbridge responded to the call, including Keasbey and Hopelawn, and a Sayreville rig was seen at the Avenel firehouse, less than a mile from the fire site.

Firefighters fought the blaze from the street, the site of a crowded condo development. They had more space from the rear of the building, which opens onto an open field holding high tension lines.

At 4:30 pm, the Avenel fire company was still on the scene. "We're still there, working on it," a firefighter said.