LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ – On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 15:07 p.m., Lacey Township Police Department responded to the Heritage Village Apartments at Seabreeze, located at 1031 North Newark Avenue in Forked River, for a report of smoke coming from a first floor apartment. The smoke was determined to be coming from an unoccupied apartment, where a pot was left on top of a stove that had been left on. Police, Fire, EMS, and the building manager evacuated the residents of the complex due to heavy smoke conditions.
Lacey Township School Transportation responded to the scene with school buses to provide temporary shelter for the dislocated residents. The Forked River Fire Department cleared out the smoke and determined that the building was safe for the residents to return. The Ocean County Fire Marshall and Lacey Township Detective Bureau responded to the scene and determined the incident to be accidental. Lanoka Harbor Fire Department, Bayville Fire Department, and Lacey Township First Aid assisted at the scene.