Fire Damages Belleville Home

A fire in a Belleville home started behind the kitchen dishwasher and spread to the kitchen cabinets and walls.

Though the fire that occurred on Linden Avenue over the weekend was under control after a short time, it took firefighters longer to tear out the kitchen cabinets to make sure the blaze had not spread, said Belleville Fire Chief Robert Caruso.

Caruso said Wednesday that the fire was accidental. No one was injured in the incident that happened on June 23.

"Our firefighters had the fire part under control in about 20 minutes, but it took almost another two hours take the kitchen walls apart to make sure nothing else was going to catch fire," Caruso said.

The call came in at 7:12 p.m. Saturday and a Belleville ladder fire truck and fire engine were on the scene less than three minutes later, Caruso said.

Nutley, Bloomfield and North Arlington Fire Trucks and firefighters supported Belleville firefighters and were prepared to cover any other fires during the two and a half hours that firefighters were at the Linden Avenue home, he said.

The major damage was contained to the kitchen though the rest of the house received some smoke damage, according to Caruso.

The report did not specify how many family members resided at the home, but Caruso said they were temporarily displaced while the electrical issues are resolved. 

Once those issues are fixed, the family can move back, he said.

As of Wednesday, the family was not yet back, according to officials