Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on May 4, 2024, at approximately 1:20 a.m., the Lakewood Township Police Department and Fire Departments were dispatched to a structure fire on Joe Parker Road. Upon arrival, emergency personnel observed heavy fire coming from the front and back of the structure. Occupants of the structure informed emergency personnel that a male occupant remained unaccounted for. The missing male occupant was located in the structure and rescued by an Officer from the Lakewood Township Police Department. The male was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of his injuries; he is listed in critical but stable condition. The Officer who rescued the male was transported to Monmouth Medical Center-Southern Campus in Lakewood, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and released. During the suppression of the fire, a firefighter suffered a cardiac event; the firefighter was transported to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township, where he was treated and released.
A thorough and extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department Detective Bureau, and Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, revealed that the fire originated underneath a screened-in deck attached to the structure, and that the cause of the fire was accidental due to discarded smoking material.
Prosecutor Billhimer acknowledges the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Lakewood Township Police Department, and Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, for their combined and cooperative efforts in connection with this investigation.