Woodbridge Fire Destroys Michael Court Condo

A fire roared through three floors of a condo last night, completely engulfing the building and damaging a nearby unit.

No one was injured in the fire at 104 Michael Court, in a condo complex off Route 9 Northbound, behind the MonkeySports store. The fire was extinguished within an hour, but during that time, it burned hot and heavy.

Residents in nearby buildings, evacuated for their safety, said, stood in the parking lot and watched the flames shoot 20 to 30 feet high.

The entire scene was lit up by the fire, but also by exterior flood lights on the building, the flashing lights of , EMS, and fire trucks, and an enormous ladder truck bedecked to the top with blue rope lighting. 

One onlooker said "it almost looks like a carnival, if you didn't know it was a fire."

Iselin firefighter and former chief Bill Kenney said they didn't know what caused the blaze, which is still under investigation.

One fireman said they believed the fire started in the basement. All three floors, "from the basement to the roof," the firefighter said, were involved in the fire.

The building was declared uninhabitable by the time the flames were put out.

The two alarm blaze was called in at 8:45 pm, said Bob Gillespie, a mutual aid coordinator with the .

Firefighters from as far away as Metuchen responded to the blaze, he said.

Engines from Colonia, Iselin #9, Iselin #11, and Woodbridge were at the scene, as were firetrucks from Iselin #9 and #11, and Metuchen.