BELMAR — A fire that spread to four houses in Belmar Saturday evening resulted in two firefighters and one resident sustaining injuries, police announced. One resident was pulled to safety by a Belmar firefighter.
The fire was reported at a residential home on the 500 block of 14th Avenue at 7:37 p.m. Saturday night, according to a Belmar Police Department press release issued Sunday morning.
Belmar Fire Chief Sean Pringle estimated that approximately six residents were displaced as a result of the fire, including the Mendoza family, whose apartment on the second floor of 515 14th Ave. was entirely engulfed by flames. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched for the family and can be found online at gofundme.com/f/95fhj-help-the-mendoza-family-rebuild-after-fire.
Chief Pringle told The Coast Star that he and his firefighters arrived to “heavy flames” after being dispatched for a shed fire in the rear of 515 14th Avenue. A propane tank explosion, apparently used for a gas stove, went off in the original stages of the fire, Chief Pringle said.
“Upon my arrival, we had heavy fire at 515 14th (Avenue) in the rear. It was hitting the second floor through the roof, and we had fire on 513 (14th Avenue) on the side of the house up through the roof too, up into the attic,” he said.
The structure at 515 14th Avenue was engulfed by the flames during the fire, while next door, 513 14th Avenue, sustained heavy fire damage to the second floor. Two other nearby residential structures, at 517 14th Avenue and 522 15th Avenue, were also damaged, Chief Pringle said.
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