Fire Destroys Abandoned Mansion In Colts Neck, New Jersey
COLTS NECK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Investigators are trying to determine what sparked a fire that destroyed an abandoned mansion in Monmouth County, New Jersey overnight.
Little is left of what was once a sprawling $8 million mansion on Cedar Drive in Colts Neck. Heavy machine Thursday knocked down the few walls that the fire didn't devour of the 22,000-square foot home.
The raging blaze quickly tore through the empty, boarded up home around midnight, gutting the entire structure right down to the frame and foundation. Firefighters had to pump water from a nearby lake to fight the flames.
The town's mayor and police chief say this was no accident, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
"The house burned to the ground," said Mayor Russell Macnow.
"I would call it suspicious, yes," said Police Chief Kevin Sauter.
"The house actually sits at the end of a very long driveway a few hundred feet away from the street. Even though many neighbors may not have actually seen the home up close, people in the community knows all about it.
"Kids will be kids. They had a place to hangout," said resident Ralph Somma.
Not only did kids hang out in the zombie mansion, but it was somewhat of an attraction, an eyesore and a longtime complaint of residents in this upscale neighborhood, Burrell reported.
A YouTube video showing what the abandoned mansion looked like gives a look at how trespassers broke in, painting the walls with graffiti and ransacked the rooms once adorned in marble.
The video got more than 1 million hits online, drawing even more attention to the property with curious visitors and people bold enough to throw parties. Neighbors say there were sometimes multiple parties in one night.
"Mostly from out of town, not only from Monmouth County but all over the State of New Jersey," the police chief said.
The property had belonged to a banker who was jailed for mortgage fraud and has been tied up in foreclose proceedings, Burrell reported.
At least one neighbor tells CBS2 he's relieved the house is now gone and he hopes all of the unwanted attention has gone with it.
It's unclear if anyone was inside the home at the time of the fire, but no injuries have been reported.
