Four Lacey Fires Deemed Accidental

between Thursday, April 5, and Sunday, April 8, have been deemed accidental.

The Ocean County Prosecutors Office did not find the Easter Sunday fire on the 100 block of Beach Boulevard to be suspicious, Assistant Prosecutor Michel Paulhus said.

“We couldn’t rule out accidental cause,” he said. “Arson was eliminated.”

The home on Beach Boulevard was fully engulfed when the police and fire departments arrived at approximately 2:14 a.m. April 8. No injuries were reported, as the home was unoccupied at the time. The residence was uninhabitable.

Although the official ruling is accidental, the Ocean County Fire Marshal will continue the investigation to determine a precise cause, Paulhus said. The Prosecutor's Office portion of the investigation is closed.

“(The Fire Marshal) has been involved from the beginning,” he said. “They have a responsibility to make structures safer because of fire code.”

The state forest fire service also deemed three other fires accidental, a representative from the service said.

The state forest fire service along with local fire departments battled three brush fires in Lacey in just four days: on April 8  off Lacey Road in the Pine Barrens, another  on Route 539 on April 7 and a  on April 5.

None of the fires were suspicious and an exact cause was not determined, the representative said. Once the fire is ruled accidental, the investigation is closed.