Investigators: Cigarette likely caused Lacey Township house fire that killed 4 family members, including a 4-month-old child
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- We're learning more about the cause of a fire that killed four members of a New Jersey family in Lacey Township on Tuesday.
A burnt-out shell of a home now a sad reminder of the tragedy that took place in the Ocean County community.
Flames engulfed the home on Buttonwood Drive, killing four members of the same family, including a 4-month-old infant.
Investigators say the likely cause of the fire is an improperly discarded cigarette on the front porch. The fire has been ruled accidental.
"The whole front of the house was blowing up when that explosion-- so I guess they were really trapped up there," neighbor Alicia Kemp said.
Prosecutors identified the victims as: 39-year-old Jennifer Wright; her 34-year-old sister, Alaina; Alaina's 4-month-old child, and their 14-year-old niece.
"The sisters they were always nice. They was just nice people," Kemp said.
Neighbors say Alaina and Jennifer's sister -- the mother of the teen who died -- had just gone to the store with her younger child only to return to this horror.
"There was just no way to get in, and by the time they got the ladder and everything, they couldn't see anything. The house was like totally engulfed in flames," Kemp said.
Investigators say 67-year-old Brenda Wright -- the mother of the sisters and grandmother to the children who died -- escaped the flames by jumping out of a window, but she tried to go back in.
"But she passed out right on the ground, right before the door, so we picked her up, we all carried her out here, and then she was telling us there's four more people in the house," neighbor Robert Juska said.
Brenda Wright''s husband, who neighbors say collected items from garage sales, wasn't home at the time of the fire.
"You gotta pray, and everybody needs to rally around this family," Kemp said.
Neighbors who did not want to go on camera say they've spoken to Alaina and Jennifer Wright's surviving sister; she's overwhelmed with grief. They also say the community wants to be there for the family.
Prosecutors say Brenda Wright is in stable condition at the hospital.