LAKEWOOD, NJ—Early Friday morning, Lakewood firefighters responded to a significant fire at 226 Cedar Bridge Ave, a multi-unit apartment building. The incident, which escalated to two alarms, began around 2:30 AM when heavy smoke was reported emanating from a second-floor apartment.
Lakewood’s Engine 5, arriving first on the scene, immediately noticed heavy smoke from the second story and initiated an aggressive attack by stretching a 1.3/4 inch line to the affected apartment. Shortly after their arrival, Command 1 observed the fire venting from the C side windows and soon breaking through the roof.
As additional firefighting units, including Engine 1, arrived, backup lines were deployed to neighboring apartments to combat fire spread. The firefighting teams inside the building reported that the fire had extended to an adjacent second apartment and was visibly breaking through the roof of that unit as well.
A second alarm was promptly issued to summon additional manpower to the scene. Firefighting efforts continued robustly, with crews successfully making substantial progress in extinguishing the flames in both impacted units, preventing further spread to adjacent buildings.
The firefighting teams worked several hours on fire suppression and overhaul to ensure all hotspots were addressed. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The quick response and coordinated efforts of the Lakewood fire departments played a crucial role in controlling and ultimately containing this potentially devastating blaze.