Victim Of Deadly Toms River Home Fire Identified, Prosecutor Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ - The victim of a deadly fire at the Roberts Mobile Home Park in Toms River on Thursday has been identified, authorities said.

A man's body was found in the home on Roberts Road after the afternoon fire was extinguished, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Friday. The identity of the victim, Billy Kimbrough, 76, the occupant of the residence, was later released Saturday in an update from the prosecutor’s office.

The fire has been ruled accidental, with a “thorough and extensive investigation” by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau and the Toms River Township Bureau of Fire Prevention finding that the blaze originated on a mattress in the only bedroom of the residence.

“Smoking cannot be eliminated as the cause of the fire,” the prosecutor’s office added. A post mortem examination of Kimbrough is scheduled to take place Saturday.

The fire was reported about 3 p.m. Thursday. The 911 caller reportedly told police they tried to alert the homeowner to the fire, because the caller believed the homeowner was still inside the home, police said.

When Toms River police arrived they tried to go into the home and check for the homeowner, but it was fully engulfed and they were driven back by the heavy smoke and intense flames, police said.

A firefighter was treated for a minor injury suffered while fighting the fire at Community Medical Center and released.

Billhimer thanked the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Toms River Township Police Department, Toms River Township Bureau of Fire Prevention, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, for their help in connection with the investigation.

- With reporting by Karen Wall.