Condo fire displaces 14 people in Haddonfield; 2 cats killed

HADDONFIELD,N.J. (WPVI) -- A fast-moving fire tore through part of the Haddonfield Commons early Thursday morning, leaving 14 residents without a home just a week before Thanksgiving.

Smoke and flames were pouring out of the apartment building around 5:30 a.m. when Patrick Samulis said he first noticed something was wrong.

"I was getting ready for work, and I started to smell something weird," Samulis said.

He lives a few doors down from the unit where the fire began.

"I checked out in the hallway, and I heard water running, which I thought was weird. It smelled more like something burning in the hallway, so I ran inside, got the kids said, 'We gotta get out of here, I think there's a fire.' I wasn't even 100% sure at that point," he recalled.

Samulis pulled the fire alarm, then rushed with his family to warn neighbors.

"These guys got out of bed quick when I said, 'Hey, get up, get up, get up!'" he said, motioning to his three kids.

"We went and started banging on some doors, started getting people out, and by that point, you know, we've gone down the stairs and we went outside and we realized the gravity of the situation," he added.

His daughter, Anna Samulis, said the scale of the fire was overwhelming.

"It was just really shocking," she said. "I didn't expect it to be nearly that large."

Everyone inside the building made it out safely, but two cats died in the unit where the bulk of the fire was.

"I think they just moved in a week or two prior from another state, Oklahoma, I believe, unfortunately for them. Not a good way to start off," Samulis said.

Haddonfield Fire Chief Patrick Gorman said the blaze caused extensive damage.

"The bulk of the fire was in the roof line area of the apartment that was affected," he said. "Overall, 12 units were affected, four of them were the primary fire damage, eight of them were water and smoke damage."

He said the outcome could have been much worse for a building that houses many seniors.

"There was only one person checked out that did not need medical attention, but overall, we're lucky to have had this severe fire
and have had nobody injured," Gorman said.

Gorman noted the challenges firefighters faced.

"There are some challenges because of a multifamily type situation in a common cockloft where the fire could spread into other apartments very quickly, so it was challenging, but we did have the proper equipment and a proper personnel on the scene in a timely manner, which really helped to help fire from spreading," he said.

Samulis said his own unit did not suffer structural damage, but it is still not livable.

"It just smells really bad, so we're not gonna be staying there tonight," he said.

The Red Cross is assisting the 14 people displaced. The Camden County Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.