1. 4/12/13 Woman killed in 3-alarm blaze
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January 04, 2013 Email Print Comment RSS
Woman killed in 3­alarm blaze
The cause and origin of the fire is still under investigation
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By Jacqueline Durett
East Brunswick Sentinel
SOUTH RIVER, N.J. — A three­alarm Christmas Day blaze ripped through the Hotel Pershing boarding
house on Main Street, causing the death of one resident and leaving others homeless.
The blaze started just before midnight and it took firefighters until 3 or 4 a.m. to put it out.
American Military University
The name of the deceased woman, who resided in Room 20 at the Hotel Pershing, had not been
released as of press time; there were no other injuries reported.
Both the cause and point of the origin of the fire are under investigation by the Middlesex County We Recommend...
Prosecutor’s Office and the South River Police Department and Fire Prevention Bureau, according to
South River Fire Chief Charles Matts. Video: Passerby climbs three
stories, rescues girl from fire
The American Red Cross is assisting approximately 20 displaced residents with temporary housing,
Matts said. Video: New high­tech camera
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Even though it was a holiday, there were plenty of volunteers both from the borough and nearby footage
municipalities to tackle the fire, Matts said. Companies from East Brunswick, Sayreville and High­rise study shows importance
Middletown assisted, as did the county fire bureau. Meanwhile, companies from East Brunswick, of large crew
Spotswood, North Brunswick and Woodbridge provided coverage for the borough during the
Calif. firefighters find burned body
emergency.
Video: 5 NJ firefighters hurt at fatal
South River Borough Councilman Peter Guindi, who is a firefighter but was out of town during the fire
fire, said Matts briefed him upon his return. Guindi said based on Matts’ report, the responding fire
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departments did a “phenomenal job containing the fire.”
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Responding to a fire on a holiday comes with the territory, Guindi said.
“Basically this is what volunteers do,” he said.
While the fire was active, Veterans Memorial Bridge, which separates Sayreville and South River, was
closed.
Guindi said at this point the building is not habitable. Matts added that the borough’s building
department will determine whether it can be salvaged or if it needs to be demolished. Get the #1 Fire eNewsletter
“It was just tough because it was Christmas,” Matts said of the residents. Sign up for our FREE email
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The Hotel Pershing, which had two floors and 24 rooms, also had been flooded by Hurricane Sandy, columns, videos and more,
sent 3 times weekly
“but recovered quickly,” Mayor John Krenzel said.
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“As far as I can tell, the building has always been the Hotel Pershing, and as far as I can determine, See
has always had rooms on the upper floors and a bar or something like a bar on the ground floor,” Sample
said Stephanie Bartz of the South River Historical & Preservation Society. “There was another hotel
in the same location before the Pershing was built. The Hoffman House also burned at one time.”
Bartz said the Hoffman House dates back to before 1870, and still existed in 1923.
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Copyright 2013 East Brunswick Sentinel
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