Early Morning Fire Traps Residents Inside Home In Mercer County: Cops

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — Eight residents escaped an early morning fire that engulfed two neighboring homes in Hamilton on Wednesday. According to authorities, people were trapped inside the burning buildings before firefighters could get there.

Around 2:39 a.m. Wednesday, emergency crews rushed to the 1400 block of Hamilton Ave after receiving reports of a house fire with victims trapped inside. Firefighters arrived to find flames consuming all three floors of a duplex and spreading to the adjacent two-family home, also engulfing all levels, officials said.

Rescue teams immediately launched search operations in both structures, looking for anyone who might be trapped inside. All occupants had managed to escape the inferno on their own before firefighters arrived, officials said.

Two residents were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries from the blaze. One firefighter suffered minor injuries. It took firefighters 45 minutes to contain the flames.

All eight displaced residents received assistance from the Red Cross after both homes were deemed uninhabitable.

According to an investigation by the Hamilton Fire Marshals Office and the Hamilton Police Division, the blaze started when an e-bike battery being charged in a bedroom malfunctioned.

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