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No cause known yet for fire that displaced Upper Township family
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UPPER TOWNSHIP - A Petersburg family is still in disbelief over a fire Friday that destroyed their home.
Nobody was hurt, but the fire, which the family believes was started by a space heater, incinerated most of their belongings.
"If the fire didn't get it, the smoke and heat did," homeowner Linda Cuozzo-Cole said.
She and James Pastorina own the home at 301 Dennisville-Petersburg Road. Pastorina and their 19-year-old son, James, lived at the home. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, which remains under investigation by State Police from the Woodbine barracks.
The Southern Shore chapter of the American Red Cross provided temporary lodging to the family.
Cuozzo-Cole's son was away at Rowan University on Friday. She called him to let him know the house he grew up in was gone.
"I told him it was an emergency. He had to come home," she said.
The family lost photographs and other personal belongings in the blaze, including some sentimental items Cuozzo-Cole got from her late mother. Cuozzo-Cole grew up in Upper Township at a nearby home in Petersburg.
State Police Detective Mark Devine said the official cause of the fire has not been determined.
"There was extensive damage to the downstairs portion. The adjusters are doing their reviews," he said.
Contact Michael Miller:
609-463-6712
Posted in Cape_may on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 8:15 pm
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