The Maplewood Fire Department responded to three fires in the past 24 hours, including a fire that heavily damaged the Sakura restaurant in Millburn and structure fires in two Maplewood homes.
TAPintoMillburn.com reported that the owners of Sakura say that a faulty soda machine was the the cause of a fire that heavily damaged the restaurant on Essex Street in downtown Millburn early this morning, although the fire is still under investigation. Maplewood Fire Department Engine 32 worked the fire, responding at 1 a.m.
Deputy Chief Joseph Callaghan said that the Maplewood fires included a structure fire on Hillcrest Road around 10 p.m. and one on Franklin Avenue this morning.
“Hillcrest was a third floor apartment where a ceiling light fixture caught fire and spread to the attic,” said Callaghan. “The rest of the house was undamaged. The third floor apartment, however, was not habitable.” Callaghan said there were no injuries.
The Franklin Avenue fire was a kitchen fire where the owner lit the stove for breakfast and left to walk her dog. “Combustibles kept too close to the stove ignited and spread to the rest of the kitchen,” said Callaghan, who reported that the owner “was able to wake her husband and he was able to escape.” Both the husband and wife were treated for smoke inhalation, with the husband needing to be hospitalized. Two Maplewood Police officers were also treated at the scene. No firefighters were injured.
Callaghan noted, “There were no smoke detectors at either incident.”
Callaghan said it had been an unusually busy day as Maplewood firefighters and EMTs also responded to eight EMS incidents, but he credited his crew with a “great job,” calling their work “impressive to watch.”
Verizon FiOS1 News posted video of the Franklin Street incident here:
