Police are assisting the fire department in investigating the cause of the fire, which has been declared suspicious, and the connection to drugs, fire officials said.
TRENTON - A fire that may have been started by squatters damaged the second and third floors of a vacant home on Martin Luther King Boulevard today, officials said.
The blaze, which sent four engine companies and two ladder companies to the 500 block of the boulevard this afternoon, has been declared suspicious and remains under investigation by authorities.
"It appears to be used as a drug house," Battalion Chief Ron Kosztyu said.
No injuries were reported, but firefighters had to improvise when they found the stairway between the second and third floors had been removed long ago by the previous occupants, Kosztyu said. In its place was a closet.
Unfortunately, that clear path between the levels allowed the fire to spread from the second to the third floor before firefighters were called out at 1:58 p.m., Kosztyu said.
Using ladders to climb in through third-floor windows, the firefighters were able to extinguish the flames and bring the fire under control within 25 minutes.
A strong brick firewall prevented the adjacent home from catching fire or being damaged. That home was abandoned as well, however.
City police are investigating both the cause of the fire and the apparent connection between the vagrants and drugs, officials said.
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