Winding Wood fire considered suspicious BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SAYREVILLE - A fire that displaced 12 residents of the Winding Wood apartments is considered suspicious, as police are investigating a report that someone tossed a flaming object through a window to start the blaze. The fire began in the bottom-floor bedroom of an apartment in Building 110 at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 5. The residents of the affected apartments were home at the time, but evacuated safely. Two apartments sustained heavy damage, while six others were damaged by smoke. More than 40 firefighters responded to the scene, putting the fire out in a half-hour, according to Sayreville Fire Chief Stamatis Bratsano. Police records indicate that at least one perpetrator may have removed the screen of an apartment window and threw a flammable object into the room. Sayreville Fire Marshal Kevin Krushinski said that authorities are still determining whether the fire was set intentionally or by accident, and the investigation is ongoing. The residents whose apartments were gutted are currently staying with relatives in the area, Krushinski added. Patrolman Joe Monaco responded to the scene along with several other officers, evacuating all of the residents in the building's 16 apartments. He wrote in a report that the apartments were fully engulfed in flames when responders arrived with all four Sayreville fire companies and the East Brunswick Fire Department. The Sayreville Emergency Squad sent three ambulances to the scene as well. After all the apartments were evacuated and the fire brought under control, Monaco spoke with a child who lived in one of the apartments that was destroyed. The child reportedly told Monaco that she and her sister were sleeping in the downstairs bedroom when their mother woke them up and instructed them to get out of the apartment. She also told Monaco that her sister's bed, which was directly under the window, was fully engulfed in flames and her sister was already out of the room and safe, Monaco wrote in the report. The sister reportedly told Monaco that she left the window closest to her closed, but left the other window open with its screen closed. She added that the screen window was not there when she awoke to find her bed on fire. Anyone with information on the fire is asked to call the Sayreville Police Department at (732) 525-5400.