Two-family home destroyed by fire, second in 10 years
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above: Melted siding hangs from the side of a garage on a house adjacent to a two-family home that was destroyed by fire Tuesday on Bordentown Avenue, Sayreville. Below: Windows were boarded up yesterday in the back of the two-story home.

SAYREVILLE - A Bordentown Avenue home that housed two families was destroyed in a fire Tuesday.

"There was a heavy fire on the back side of the structure," borough Fire Marshall Kevin Krushinski said.

While only one side of the two-story home at 461A Bordentown Ave. was engulfed in flames, the other side of the duplex sustained smoke and water damage and was also rendered uninhabitable.

No one was home when the fire began at 12:09 p.m. Tuesday, and there were no injuries, according to First Assistant Fire Chief William Brugnoli.

A witness called 911 to report the fire at the home, which is across the street from the PSE&G building near the Conrail train yard.

"Right now, it is under investigation by the police department," Brugnoli said regarding the cause of the fire.

The fire started in the rear of the home's first floor and engulfed the second story after about eight minutes, Brugnoli said. First responders including the Sayreville Emergency Squad, Morgan First Aid, and firefighters from Sayreville, Madison Park and Old Bridge arrived on the scene within minutes, and the fire was put out in roughly half an hour.

The home had been damaged in another fire about eight to 10 years ago but was renovated in recent years, according to fire officials and police.

"It was burnt down and it sat there for a couple of years," Brugnoli said.

Hillside Estates, which owns the Winding Woods apartment complex, is the current owner of the property.

Sayreville Police Detective Douglas Sprague said the cause of Tuesday's fire is currently under investigation.

"We are not ruling anything out," Sprague said.