EDISON — Two large families have been temporarily displaced after a fire gutted a Lyle Place apartment and caused smoke and water damage to the apartment next door, according to fire officials.
Fire Capt. Andy Toth said five of 11 family members were home when a kitchen fire started at 7 p.m. on May 30. Three boys, ranging in age from 12 to 21, and two girls, ages 20 and 12, ran from their five-bedroom apartment before Edison firefighters arrived at the scene, Toth said.
Most of the 10 family members who live next door were not home when the fire began. Several youngsters who were home escaped from their apartment without injury, Toth said.
Representatives of the American Red Cross, working with Mayor Thomas Lankey’s administration, arranged temporary lodging for both families at the Sheraton Hotel in Raritan Center, Toth said.
The Edison Housing Authority, which manages the Lyle Place apartments, is working to restore the apartment where the fire occurred to a habitable condition, Toth said. He said it was hoped the families would be able to return to their apartments within 48 hours of the incident.
“The family from [one apartment] lost everything … clothes, furniture, computers and their important documents,” Toth said. “But everyone has come together, from our mayor’s office and various municipal agencies, to our school district, and our police and fire unions, to do whatever they can to help.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation by Edison fire officials and the Middlesex County Fire Marshal.
