ISLAND HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) - Police are trying to determine how a near-100-year-old New Jersey home caught fire when no one was home and the house was locked.
A neighbor alerted Island Heights police to a faint alarm she heard on Monday afternoon. Responding Patrolman Matt Curtis says he found a small fire burning on an electric stove and called fire officials, who quickly extinguished the growing fire.
The Asbury Park Press reports (https://on.app.com/2rzATum ) items found burning on the stove had been placed there to apparently catch a leak from the ceiling.
Curtis says no one had been inside the home for about a week, and there were no signs of forced entry. The stove was turned on.
Officials are referring the matter to arson investigators.
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