Crime & Safety

No Autopsy Reports, Victim IDs Sunday In Point Beach Fatal Motel Fire

APP: The American Red Cross Jersey Coast Chapter is assisting 27 people from the Mariner's Cove fire, providing food, clothing, lodging, replacement medications, comfort kits and mental health assistance

No announcements will be made Sunday regarding autopsies or identities of the deceased as investigators continue their work to isolate the origin and cause of the fatal Point Pleasant Beach motel fire.

The Medical Examiners Office believes it's necessary to utilize DNA and other "more intensive methods" to produce definitive identifications, according to Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

"The ME advises this may be complete early this coming week," Della Fave said.

All four fire victims who died earlier Friday were men, said Della Fave. The motel was housing displaced survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

Della Fave said the Toms River Fire Department Technical Rescue Team, which is part of the New Jersey State Police Urban Search and Rescue Team, were on site and assisting in the investigative effort. 

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is also on site along with members of the NJ State Police Arson Unit and Ocean County Arson Task Force, Della Fave said.

The fire, which was the subject of more than 15 calls to 911 at about 5:33 a.m., collapsed the roof of the motel where about 40 people were staying, authorities have said. The blaze was brought under control at 7:04 a.m.

In addition to the four people who died, eight were taken to hospitals, including one to the St. Barnabas Hospital burn center in Livingston.

The American Red Cross Jersey Coast Chapter is assisting 27 people from the Mariner’s Cove fire, providing food, clothing, lodging, replacement medications, comfort kits and mental health assistance, if needed, according to The Asbury Park Press.

Tyisha Thomas, 35, had been living in the motel for about a month with her boyfriend and three children, after her former landlord did not renew the lease of the house they were living in, saying: “Right now, we’re trying to take it one day at a time ... They put us up in a (motel) room for a couple of days, but after that I don’t know what me and my family are going to do or where we go from here,” according to The Asbury Park Press.

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