A person was killed early Thursday when fire broke out at the Winding Brook Apartments on Bradford Avenue in Hamilton Township. Firefighters responded to the blaze and pulled a victim from one of the units. The victim died at the scene.
First responders were called to the complex on Bradford Avenue around 6:45 a.m. Thursday, according to a Hamilton Township spokesperson cited by NBC10 Philadelphia. Firefighters extricated one victim from an apartment before the person was pronounced dead at the scene, a detail also reported by Daily Voice. NBC10's Skyforce 10 helicopter captured aerial video showing three firefighters visible on the roof of the building as crews responded to the fire.
Officials said the investigation into the fire's cause remains ongoing, with more details expected to be released later Thursday or Friday. The victim had not been publicly identified.
The Apartment Complex
Winding Brook Apartments is an apartment complex on Bradford Avenue in Hamilton Township.
Fire Response
Firefighters responded to the blaze in Hamilton Township.
Standard protocol in New Jersey calls for local authorities to notify the county prosecutor's office whenever a residential fire results in a death, triggering a joint investigation with specialized arson investigators. That process typically brings in county detectives and state fire marshals to assess potential criminal activity or code violations before origin and cause are finalized.
How This Fits the State's Fire Toll
Hamilton Township is the largest suburb of Trenton and the most populous municipality in Mercer County, with a population of 92,297 recorded in the 2020 Census. Rental housing makes up roughly 28 percent of residential units in the township.
State officials have noted that properly working smoke alarms can cut residential fire mortality by 40 to 50 percent, though it remains unknown whether smoke detectors were present or functioning in the unit where Thursday's fire started.
