Fire/Rescue News - One hospitalized after apartment fire in Brigantine

BRIGANTINE - A man was hospitalized Sunday after inhaling smoke during an apartment fire on the island.

Firefighters arrived at the apartment on the 900 block of West Brigantine Boulevard at 4:49 p.m., two minutes after a caller reported a fire there, to find heavy black smoke emanating from an apartment above Carmine's Pizza Shop, Brigantine fire Lt. Joseph Maguire said in a statement.

A man living or visiting the second-floor unit was transported to AtlaniCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, Maguire said. He said he could not release the man's name or condition due to privacy laws.

The restaurant below reopened shortly after firefighters had put out the flames, which six firefighters extinguished in about eight minutes, according to the statement.

Fire Investigator Joseph Lavigna has not determined the cause of the blaze.

People on the scene, however, told officials it may have started after someone left cooking food unattended in the apartment, Maguire said.

The unit sustained $10,000 worth of damage and is presently uninhabitable.