A fire in an apartment at Winchester Gardens senior living community in Maplewood on December 12 resulted in no serious injuries, according to officials, although two residents suffered minor injuries.
“There were two patients, both were residents of Winchester Gardens,” reported South Orange Rescue Squad Chief Victor Rothstein. “One refused transport on scene and the other was transported to Cooperman Barnabas in stable condition. No injuries to fire fighters.”
A representative of Springpoint Senior Living, which owns and operates Winchester Gardens, said that the fire originated in one apartment. The occupant was not home but the alarm and sprinklers activated. The apartment is currently uninhabitable and the occupant is staying with family until remediation is completed. There was no other damage to the facility.
“The cause of the fire in under investigation,” said South Essex Fire Chief Joe Alvarez, who reported that “a full assessment was dispatched for an alarm activation at 333 Elmwood Avenue” on Tuesday evening. “Squad Co 32 was the first arriving company.”
“The crew went in to investigate and were met with heavy smoke in the lower level of the D wing, the captain of Squad 32 requested a single 11 which is a working fire assignment Deputy 1 along with TL 31 Ladder 81 and Engine 83 arrived,” Alvarez continued. “All companies were put to work with stretching back up fire hoses and also working on search and rescue. A 2nd and 3rd alarm was transmitted bringing in mutual aid from Irvington, Newark, Orange, East Orange, Union & Millburn to help at the scene. West Orange, Bloomfield & Montclair covered South Orange and Maplewood for other calls in the towns.”
Alvarez thanked Rothstein and the South Orange Rescue Squad “for responding with an EMS task force to help with patient care and to be there to care for the firefighters.”
[Editor’s note: This story erroneously reported that there were multiple occupants of the apartment. We apologize for the error.]
