The Trenton Times published the following article on November 5, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Two-alarm fire leads to drug investigation inside Trenton home
By Alex Zdan/The Times
on November 05, 2013 at 8:40 PM, updated November 05, 2013 at 8:43 PMTRENTON — A two-alarm fire inside a home early today led to a drug investigation after firefighters found several substances inside the house that could not immediately be identified, authorities said.
It is not believed that the items connected to the drug investigation sparked the blaze, Battalion Chief Ron Kosztyu said. Trenton police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office were at the house on the 1100 block of Hamilton Avenue before sunrise and into the afternoon.
The investigators, who obtained a search warrant for the house, took out several boxes of evidence and may have been joined by federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Kosztyu said. In mid-morning, the fire department’s Hazmat team was sent out.
“They were requested by police to test some unknown, unmarked items in the house,” Kosztyu said.
Firefighters wearing Tyvek suits and masks but no respirators entered the duplex, obtained the samples and tested them on the scene. None of the items tested was found to be hazardous, Kosztyu said.
City police referred comment to the prosecutor’s office, which absorbed Trenton’s Vice Enforcement Unit in July. A spokesperson for the agency could not be reached for comment late today.
A family of six lived in the house, but no one was injured in the blaze, which began around 12:30 a.m. today. Arriving firefighters found heavy smoke and fire in the basement.