Unattended cooking is being blamed for an oven fire in the Parkway Gardens apartment complex on Monday night, fire officials said late Tuesday.
Firefighters arrived at the apartment complex and found a smoke condition after they were electronically alerted by a central fire monitoring system that was installed in the building, said Jim Mercready, Director of Toms River Fire Prevention.
Mercready said two of the building's occupants had forced open the door to the unit where the smoke had accumulated and put the fire out with extinguishers.
Fire crews from Toms River Fire companies 1 and 2 responded and checked the apartment, unplugged the appliance and ventilated the building some residents could move back in, said Mercready.
Mercready said unattended cooking is a leading cause of fires in cooking equipment, and those who have to leave home should make sure all burners are turned off before they go.
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