A  late night 2-alarm fire has killed three people inside a Long Branch home.


Long Branch police say the fire was reported just before midnight Tuesday night at a home on Joline Avenue. One person is hospitalized in critical condition. NJ.com reports two adults and two children live in the two-story home. One neighbor told the newspaper that the family had recently moved into the home.


Firefighters from Long Branch and surrounding communities responded but were delayed in getting into the home by heavy smoke and flames although little damage can be seen to the outside of the home. “They tried to get upstairs to the second floor. The house was already involved,” Long Branch Police officer Jason Roebuck told CBS Philly. “They couldn’t make their way past the smoke and fire. They tried their hardest to make it up to the second floor where they thought there were some people.”

Route 36 is closed in both directions through the area between Rockwell Avenue and Liberty Street.

Police could be seen early Wednesday morning going door-to-door asking neighbors what they heard around the time of the fire. The Monmouth County prosecutor's office is investigating the fire. There's no word on a cause.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

 

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