“The water is almost instantly freezing,” said Vallauri, describing how the firefighters were injured as they fell on ice.

The fire was called in shortly after 7 p.m. and was fully involved when fire departments arrived. It wasn’t immediately clear how the fire began, Vallauri said.

By 7:45 p.m., more than a dozen emergency vehicles had arrived. Smoke could be seen coming from the top of the house in the back the cul de sac off Victoria Drive. A significant portion of the second story of the home was burned along with a garage.

Fire hoses lined the streets and many neighbors stood outside of their homes watching the fire that they said spread quickly.

The fire damaged two neighboring homes, Vallauri said.

Contact Jennifer Bogdan:

609-272-7239

Sunday also will be the coldest day of the season, with high temperatures struggling to reach the mid 30s, the weather service said. Wind chills could be in the teens to low 20s at times.

This dry cold will come two days before what could be a potent northeaster is expected to develop late Tuesday and into Wednesday, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and potentially moderate coastal flooding.

The storm, which forecasters have grown increasingly confident about developing, will affect the region on the busiest travel day of the year and could bring snow or frozen precipitation to parts of New Jersey, the weather service said.

However, the weather service will not begin forecasting how much snow could fall until late Sunday at the earliest, forecasters wrote in a weather briefing released late Saturday.

Mays Landing- Students were evacuated Wednesday morning from Williams Davies School in Mays Landing, after officials say a small fire broke out.

Authorities say the fire, which was in a bathroom was put out quickly, but there was still a lot of smoke in the building. The damage is said to be minimal, and there were no injuries. Students were evacuated to nearby Oakcrest High School, before returning once the smoke cleared out. Police say they do have a suspect, a 12 year-old boy from Mays Landing. He is charged with second degree aggravated arson, 3rd degree criminal mischief and fourth degree risking widespread injury. He was taken to Harbor Fields Detention Center. Pending juvenile court.