Westfield, NJ – Home Destroyed, Four Injured in Three-Alarm Fire on Prospect S

Westfield, NJ (August 26, 2022) – Four emergency responders sustained injuries during a three-alarm residential fire on Prospect Street on Thursday, August 25th.

At about 4:10 p.m., local fire crews responded to the scene in the 700th block of Prospect Street for reports of a home engulfed in flames. Upon their arrival, firefighters observed heavy smoke and fire being emitted from all floors of the single-family home.   

Crews searched the house to confirm that all occupants had evacuated. Local police helped to rescue the family’s pets from the backyard. 

Four responders were injured during the incident. One received treatment at the scene. The other three were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries. 

As firefighters worked into the evening, the blaze was eventually contained. The building was deemed uninhabitable. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Our thoughts are with the injured victims and their families at this time. We hope for their full recovery.

Burn Injuries in New Jersey

Most burn injuries are classified into one of three categories: 

• 1st-degree/Superficial burns: A burn affecting only the top layer of skin (epidermis), such as you see with sunburn or after touching a hot stove. These burns typically take a few days to heal.
• 2nd-degree/Partial-thickness burns: These burns reach the second layer of skin (dermis). More serious than a 1st-degree burn, it may require skin grafts and result in permanent scarring.  
• 3rd-degree/Full-thickness burns: Burns of this magnitude ravage the third layer (hypodermis), causing the loss of not just the skin but also the sweat glands, hair follicles, and the stratum basale where new skin cells are formed.

Smoke inhalation is the leading cause of residential fire fatalities, not burn injuries as one might expect. Those who live, however, often experience a significant amount of both. These injuries are exceptionally painful and expensive to treat. 

Considering that about 80% of fire fatalities in the United States are residential, it is quite obvious that the prevention of residential fires is a major public safety problem. Improper disposal of tobacco products is the number one cause of fatal residential fires while cooking appliances, such as grills and stoves, are the number one cause of burn injuries in residential fires. 

If you were burned in a house or apartment fire, an explosion, electric shock, or electrical flash fire, the New Jersey burn injury lawyers at Metro Law are here to help. 

Our attorneys work diligently to ensure families have their legal rights protected so they can move forward after a serious burn injury. Contact the burn injury lawyers at Metro Law by calling (800) 460-6476 to see how we can help you.

Notes: Outside sources were used in the creation of this post including news bulletins and first-hand accounts of the accident and injuries involved. As a result, the details of the accident presented have not been independently verified. If you have identified any false information in the story or would like the post to be removed, please inform us immediately, and we will correct the information or remove the post. 

Disclaimer: As a member of the local community, we at Metro Law strive to improve the overall safety and quality of life for everyone who lives in our beloved state. We are extremely saddened by these accidents but hope that through an awareness of these dangers, those in our community will take precautions to avoid these accidents. This is not a solicitation for business, and this information should not be misconstrued as medical or legal advice. We wish only the best and quickest recovery to all those involved in the accident. The photos depicted in this post are not from the actual accident scene.