Animal Rescue Spots 3 Cats After Fire In Roosevelt Eviction Tragedy

ROOSEVELT, NJ — After a tragic house fire last week following a confrontation about an eviction, the borough is trying to help any cats that may have escaped the house alive.

An animal control officer for the town has confirmed that three pet cats have returned to the location of a Roosevelt house destroyed in a fire March 1. The fire happened at 5 Cedar Court after an attempt to evict the tenant.

Sharon Gaboff, supervisor for Western Monmouth Animal Control, says so far three cats have been spotted.

She said she is unsure of the total number that may have been able to leave the house after a confrontation with the tenant about an eviction led to a fire there last Wednesday.

"We're trying to catch them but we're just feeding them right now to get them acclimated to the new surroundings," Gaboff said Tuesday.

Eventually, they will be trapped in humane traps and brought to the SPCA in Eatontown for veterinary care and adoption, she said.

The agency began serving the borough about seven months ago, Gaboff said, so she was not aware of how many cats may have been in the house.

There are rumors of perhaps 30 cats, but Gaboff said Tuesday she is not seeing remains of "many, many cats."

She said she heard from a first responder that a window was open in the house where cats may have escaped from.

A woman facing eviction from her rented house died in a fire she set after a standoff with authorities Wednesday, according to state police.

Mayor Peggy Malkin identified the woman who died as Judy Hainan, 56, who lived in town for 12 to 15 years, she said.

State police have not as yet identified the victim. Patch will update any official information as it becomes available.

"She loved the town," Malkin said, and she was well-liked and had a business as a pet sitter, she added.

New Jersey state troopers were called to 5 Cedar Court in Roosevelt Wednesday, March 1, in one of the farthest parts of western Monmouth County, after the woman was served an eviction notice, officials said.

The renter "refused to leave and threatened to blow up the house," Lt. Lawrence Peele of the state police said in a news release last week.

At approximately 11:10 a.m. Wednesday, troopers saw smoke coming from the residence - a one-story home - before it became fully engulfed in flames.

Human remains were recovered at the scene, Peele said. Due to their condition, the remains have not yet been positively identified, he said in a news release last week.

There were no other occupants in the residence, Peele said.

Personnel from multiple fire departments arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire, police said.

Three firefighters from Millstone Township Fire Department sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries. The case remains under investigation, Peele said.

Capt. Alan South of the Millstone Fire Department said the state Division of Fire Safety is responsible for the fire investigation.

Photos of the aftermath were posted on the department's Facebook page. The department serves Roosevelt, which is in the center of the larger township, he said last week.