Early Morning Fire Engulfs Toms River Mobile Home

A Toms River mobile home is completely destroyed after a half-hour firefight of a single unit in Friendly Village early Monday.

The Camino Verde home off Route 70 was fully engulfed as the first officer arrived at 1:40 a.m., said Pleasant Plains Fire Chief Brian Doyle. At 2:10 a.m., the fire was under control and for the next hour Pleasant Plains firefighters remained on the scene to overhaul the charred residence.

No injuries were reported, but it was unclear if anyone was home at the time and escaped, or if the home was vacant, Doyle said.

"We haven't been able to locate or contact the homeowner yet," Doyle said at 2:50 a.m. "We did do a primary and secondary search of the unit."

In addition, no firefighters sustained injuries. About 25 firefighters responded as did Toms River Police, Toms River EMS and the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention.

Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy described the home as totally destroyed. "Officer Ron Bayer who responded with in a minute found the trailer to be fully involved in flames," he said. "The trailer was totally destroyed and Detective James Magovern and the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention are investigating."

An adjacent home's exterior began to melt from the neighboring fire. A nearby tree that sat over the destroyed home sustained only mild damage.

A hose line from a Route 70 hydrant snaked through the streets of Friendly Village to the Camino Verde home, as one of the main water supplies for the fire fight.

Doyle said the Route 70 hydrant, as well as hose lines from a Pleasant Plain engine, sent firefighters toward the home to douse it externally before moving toward the rear of the home.

The fire chief said that as the first officers arrived, the front of the home was completely engulfed in flames, and the fire had made its way down half of the narrow home.

"The fire was pouring out the middle windows, and the front of the unit was completely involved," Doyle said. "Fire coming out of the front windows and the side windows, and was about halfway up the unit."

At 2:50 a.m., firefighters continued to rip apart walls and douse the home with firehoses, looking for hot spots, Doyle said.

The fire left the home in ruins, the blackened wood frame outline of the mobile home barely standing. Doyle said the fire left the floor of the home compromised, leaving firefighters to carefully navigate the overhaul process.

The Route 70 entrance to Friendly Village was closed for about an hour, as was neighboring streets to Camino Verde.

Gas and electric crews responded within the hour to restore services to the neighborhood, Doyle said.