Gloucester Township officer discovers two homes on fire while on patrol
A police officer from Gloucester Township, New Jersey is being called a hero after alerting two families of a fire in the early morning hours on Friday.
According to a media release, officer Shawn Kelly was doing a routine patrol through the Cherrywood Townhome development when he noticed a fire coming from the 1600 block of Bryant Place. When he approached the scene, Kelly realized the fire involved two townhouse units as well as multiple vehicles in the driveway.
He then sprung into action, alerting both families and making sure they were all safely evacuated and accounted for. Kelly then alerted fire and EMS personnel to respond to the scene.
Erial, Blackwood, Chews Landing, Lambs Terrace, Glendora, Blenheim, Pine Hill, and Winslow Township Fire Departments along with Inspira Basic Life Support responded to the scene. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, and EMS transported one resident to an area hospital for minor smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire is under investigation but was deemed non-suspicious.
Gloucester Township police remind residents to check their fire alert and suppression systems to ensure that they are operational. It is unclear if smoke alarms were operational in this incident.