Blaze attributed to boiler

BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

MONROE — A boiler malfunction is believed to be the cause of a fire that destroyed parts of Railroad Salvage Tuesday morning.

Police said a motorist driving past the hardware business, located on Englishtown Road near Union Hill Road, saw the smoke and called state police to report the fire at 6:21 a.m.

When the first firefighters arrived at the scene, the flames were reaching through the roof of the structure, police said.

Firefighters from numerous departments, including Monroe Fire District One, Central Monroe, Applegarth Fire Co., South Old Bridge, Sayreville, North Brunswick, Spotswood, Jamesburg, Englishtown and Helmetta all assisted.

A portion of Englishtown Road was closed for five and a half hours due to the fire.

In February 2003, Ben Franklin Real Estate Inc. received a use variance from the township Zoning Board of Adjustment to construct a 7,000-square-foot building on each side of the existing 12,000-square-foot building. The new facilities were to be used for retail stores and additional storage.

Five loading docks, a storage facility on the rear of the property, an exit and entrance on Englishtown Road and an exit on Union Hill Road were also proposed.