Officials: Ocean Township Fire Destroys 15 Apartments, Leaves 40 Homeless

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A fire ripped through a Monmouth County apartment building Tuesday afternoon, leaving dozens of families homeless.

The blaze broke out around 1:15 p.m. at the Twinbrook Village Apartments on Apollo Drive, authorities said.

The sprawling complex has about 900 units, but the fire was relegated to one building, Mayor Christopher Siciliano told WCBS 880. Fifteen apartments were destroyed, leaving about 40 people displaced, authorities said.

"It was engulfed in less than an hour," Siciliano said. "It was a horrific sight to see, and the folks standing around bewildered, not knowing where they're going to go tonight. But thank God we had the support of surrounding boroughs. They all came out, all the other departments. They got it under control quickly. It just, it went up so fast."

Some firefighters suffered minor injuries, Siciliano said.

Firefighters were still on the scene more than two hours later, knocking down the remaining flames.

It was not clear what caused the fire.

There were heavy traffic delays along nearby Route 35 from Eatontown to West Park Avenue because of firefighting equipment blocking a lane.