April 2, 2021

By: Tyler Eckel

JACKSON TOWNSHIP (OCEAN)– Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on April 1, 2021, at approximately 8:45 p.m., the Jackson Township Police Department and Jackson Township Fire Department were dispatched to a structure fire with entrapment on Lehigh Boulevard.

Upon arrival, emergency personnel found the structure to be fully engulfed by flames. Firefighters located the body of an 82 year-old female in the downstairs portion of the residence. She was pronounced deceased at the scene. 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 Jackson Township Police Officer was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. A second Jackson Township Police Officer was transported to Monmouth Medical Center-Southern Campus in Lakewood, treated for minor injuries, and released.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation 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, Jackson Township Fire Bureau, and Jackson Township Police Department.
Prosecutor Billhimer acknowledges 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 efforts in connection with this investigation. More information will be released once it becomes available.

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