Couple Who Escaped Burning Manchester Home Face Long Rebuilding, Friends Say

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Manchester Township couple who were roused from their sleep to smoke alarms and a neighbor pounding on their windows are trying to rebuild their lives after losing all of their possessions and their beloved pet cats, friends say.

The fire on Oct. 25 destroyed the home of Wilfredo Ramos and Ada Meacham Ramos in Crestwood Village 6, according to Barbara Silva, who created a GoFundMe to help the couple.

The couple told police they were asleep in their bedroom when they heard the fire alarms and the neighbor banging on their windows about 10:20 p.m., police said.

"They had no time to do anything but run out of the front door, as their home was ablaze," Silva wrote on the GoFundMe campaign. "All of their possessions were destroyed; they only had their pajamas that were on their back."

The cats died of smoke inhalation, Silva said.

The couple was living in a motel, she said, while they looked for a home until their home can be rebuilt.

"Their home will take well over a year or so to rebuild, thus them needing to find a house to settle into until they can get back to normal," Silva wrote. "Needless to say they are devastated and in shock that this happened to them."

Manchester police and firefighters were called to the fire on Darien Court and found the single-family home fully engulfed in flames, police said. Photos published by Whiting Fire Company showed the flames shooting into the sky.

Authorities said the fire appeared to be the result of an electrical malfunction, based on the preliminary investigation, Manchester police said.

Those wishing to donate to the GoFundMe campaign can do so online. The campaign had raised about half of its $9,000 goal.