JACKSON – A house fire that proved fatal for a senior was determined to be accidental according to authorities.
According to a report by Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, the fatal structure fire that occurred on Lehigh Boulevard in Jackson Township on April 1 has been ruled accidental.
Members of the Township Police and Fire departments arrived around 8:45 p.m. to respond to the entrapment on Lehigh Boulevard.
Emergency personnel found the house to be fully engulfed by flames. Firefighters located the body of an 82-year-old female, later identified as Salvacion Elyea, in the downstairs portion of the residence.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene while a second victim jumped from the second story of the residence to escape the fire and received minor injuries. A pet dog has not yet been accounted for.
A Township Police Officer was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and another Police Officer was transported to Monmouth Medical Center-Southern Campus in Lakewood for minor injuries. He was treated and released.
According to the Ocean County Medical Examiner the cause of Ms. Elyea’s death was determined to be smoke inhalation, and the manner of her death to be accidental.
Billhimer said a thorough and extensive investigation was conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit- Arson Squad, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office,
The Jackson Fire Bureau, and Township Police Department, determined that the fire was caused by a kerosene heater being located in too close proximity to a combustible liquid.
The Prosecutor also acknowledged the efforts of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, Jackson Township Police Department, Jackson Township Fire Bureau, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Ocean County Road Department, and Ocean County Regional Urban Search Team, for their combined and cooperative work in connection with this investigation.
