HOWELL — A blaze that damaged a portion of a township fencing company’s property early Wednesday morning has been deemed as suspicious, police say.
The fire was reported at approximately 12:45 a.m. when a caller told police that there were flames visible on the property behind Taylor Fence Company on Route 33.
When first responders arrived at the scene, the fire had already consumed a large section of wood fencing material that was stacked approximately 30-feet long by 30-feet-long and 20-feet high, police said.
Firefighters spent several hours battling the fire and crews were still on scene as of 9:30 a.m. spraying water on materials that were still smoking. Heavy machinery also needed to be brought in to help separate the fencing materials..
The Adelphia, Ramtown, Southard, Squankim and Freewood Acres fire companies from Howell Township responded to the blaze, as well as the Colts Neck and NWS Earle fire departments, the Howell Township Police Department, Howell Police EMS, the Farmingdale-Howell First-Aid Squad and the Howell First-Aid and Rescue Squad.
The cause of the fire was being investigated by the Howell Township Police Department Investigations Division, the Howell Township Fire Bureau and the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office.
The fire was being deemed as “suspicious” as of Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The fire did not damage the fencing company’s office and main structure area. However, one fire was hospitalized after sustaining a knee injury at the scene, police said.
Route 33 was closed for several hours due to the fire, causing traffic delays in the area, but was reopened late Wednesday morning.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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