About 10:45 Sunday morning, May 22, 2022, the Maplewood Fire Department responded to an alarm that there was an active fire in a residence at 75 Park Avenue.
They responded and upon arrival found the house full of thick black smoke. The Command on site put out a call for Mutual Aid as the amount of smoke indicated the possibility of a major fire.
The house had been evacuated prior to the firefighter’s arrival, and they were able to knock down the fire rather quickly. Automatic mutual aid was provided with one engine from South Orange under an existing agreement.
The fire was in the basement, localized to the clothes dryer, and the homeowner told TAPinto SOMA that he had attempted to put out the fire with his extinguisher, and that did not put it out, instead causing the heavy black smoke.