On Sunday afternoon October 15th, Chief Charles Hartung was contacted by the Bergenfield PD and asked to respond to a home that suffered fire damage on Glenwood Drive East. The family that lives there had left the home on Saturday and returned home about 24 hours later. Chief Hartung arrived on scene and entered the single family home and was met by soot and smoke damage. As the investigation ensued, it was determined that a fire had started in an upstairs bathroom.

The fire, whose origin was traced back to a vanity on the bathroom wall, was on fire and fell off the wall into a basket of clothes. The basket of clothes was next to the toilet. The fire started to develop and melted the toilet seat causing intense heat that caused the toilet bowl to explode. With the toilet bowl now gone and an open water line, the fire was extinguished. Unfortunately, the water kept on flowing and caused extensive damage to the home and filled the basement with three inches of water. There was heat and smoke damage throughout the home. The home had working smoke detectors, but they were not monitored by a private company and the homeowners’ neighbors were also away.

The Borough Fire official was requested to the scene and filled out the necessary reports and conducted the investigation.