Homes destroyed by fire in Avalon, NJ
AVALON, N.J. (WPVI) -- Investigators are working to find the cause of a fire that destroyed two multi-million dollar homes at the Jersey Shore.
Three people, including a newborn baby, were able to escape the Friday morning inferno in Avalon.
Flames erupted around 7:45 a.m. along Seagull Drive.
"It was just awful. I never saw so much smoke,' said Nancy Munshower.
More than 100 firefighters from six companies responded.
"I turned and the street started to fill up with fire trucks, and I looked over there and smoke was pouring out of the houses," said Munshower.
Images from the Avalon Fire Department show the flames in between the homes, just before they were engulfed.
"Residents of one of the dwelling reported that the fire woke them this morning and they saw it on the outside of the building," said Chief Ed Dean.
Dean says a woman and her newborn baby were inside of that home, along with another adult. They got out in time.
A family friend tells Action News that the owner, his wife and kids were on vacation in Florida.
His oldest daughter was house sitting, and staying there with her husband.
The other home was a vacation home and it was unoccupied at the time of the fire.
After more than an hour battling the blaze, the homes are a total loss.
"Everything is destroyed in that house. It's just a shell. Sad," Munshower said.
A possible gas leak is one of the many causes that are being looked at as this investigation continues.
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