NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — A teenager is dead and three other people are injured after a massive fire tore through several row homes in Trenton Friday night.
Joseph Kokulo, 18, was trapped on the second floor of his home with the fire directly below him. Kokulo was a Trenton Central High School student who was set to take part in the school's homecoming parade on Saturday. He was also a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) there.
Msgt. Terry Trope, a JROTC instructor who knew Kokulo, spoke with NBC10.
“I couldn't ask for a better person to be in my life, and I'm so glad he was in my life," Trope said.
Police and firefighters received calls just before 11 p.m. about a large fire near North Olden and Brunswick avenues.
“Some call stating there were people trapped inside. Another call, saying it was spreading fast,” said Lisette Rios, patrol bureau commander for the Trenton Police Department. He said two Ewing Township police officers were in the area and were the first to respond to the four-alarm fire. They suffered a bit of smoke inhalation.
One person died. Three people were injured, one of whom is in critical condition.
"Another adult had soot in the airway and is intubated and put in the ICU. And the third one had smoke inhalation," Rios said.
Ten homes caught fire or were damaged by smoke. Seven were destroyed. Twenty-two people were displaced.
Diane Concannon, director of communications for the American Red Cross of New Jersey, said financial assistance is being offered to those impacted by the fire.
“We’re providing the assistance to the families individually, and they can choose if they wish to use that emergency financial assistance for temporary lodging, or maybe if they have a place to stay, they will use it for other immediate needs,” Concannon said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.