Pine Belt Cadillac saleswoman in Toms River saves 3 boys and their dog from burning home near dealership

TOMS RIVER - A saleswoman at Pine Belt Cadillac on Route 37 is being hailed as a hero this weekend for saving the lives of three children and their family dog in a house fire near the car dealership.

Suzanne Reynolds, 30, of Matawan was at work at 3:26 p.m. Friday, when she observed smoke coming from the multiple-story home at 50 North Gateway Drive, said Ralph Stocco, a spokesman for the Toms River Police Department.

"She made her way to the residence to check if there were any occupants," Stocco said in a prepared statement. "Despite not having any protective gear or breathing apparatus, Miss Reynolds selflessly and heroically entered the home. She located three brothers on the first floor and alerted them that their house was on fire."

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Reynolds ushered the three brothers — ages 12, 10, and 8 — out of the home before police, multiple fire companies and EMS personnel arrived on the scene and quickly confined the fire to the laundry room, Stocco said.

Reynolds also rescued the family dog — locked in a cage in a back room near the fire — and secured the safety of the pet as well, he said.

In an interview on Saturday, Reynolds said she was at the front desk of the dealership, on the phone with a customer when the flames became visible through its windows. At Pine Belt Cadillac at 71 Route 37 East, Reynolds is the lease return manager and a certified sales professional. She has been with the Pine Belt company since June 2015 and was assigned to its Cadillac dealership in Toms River about six months ago.

Reynolds said the call she was on disconnected and that diverted her gaze away from her desk. As the line went dead, she happened to look up and could see flames, rising above a fence line between the dealership and an adjacent residential neighborhood.

"I thought someone was burning leaves," she said. "I started walking to the window and then I realized what I was looking at was a home on fire."

From that point forward, Reynolds bolted from the dealership and in spike heels ran along the fence line in search of a gap she could squeeze through to get to the other side.

When she did and reached the burning home, she began yelling from the front door that the house was on fire — thinking there might be an elderly person inside who might be oblivious to the blaze or someone inside who would call out for help in response, because they could not escape on their own.

That's when the three boys emerged into view from various places inside the house. They had recently returned home from school but both their parents are employed and were not yet home themselves, Reynolds later learned.

"I said, 'you have to get out, there's a fire,'" she told them.

A "Beware of Dog" sign posted outside informed her that the family had one or more pets. Reynolds quizzed the boys on the whereabouts of their dog, after asking them if there were any other children or adults still inside the house. After being assured no one else was home, but that their dog was caged in a back room, she grabbed the dog after one of the boys freed the animal from the cage. As it turned out, the animal was trapped not far from the epicenter of the blaze, she said.

Reynolds clutched the dog in her arms, which she described as a kind of Corgi terrier mix, weighing about 15 pounds. She recalled the dog was shaking from the noise of the first responders and she held the animal until a neighbor and family friend came to collect the boys and the dog.

"She ensured that everyone exited without injury or being affected by smoke inhalation," Stocco said. "At the time of Suzanne’s arrival, the boys had no idea that the house was on fire and, in fact, were expecting their mother any moment. There are no initial indications that the fire was intentionally started and investigators continue their efforts on Saturday to determine the cause."

"I'm just glad everyone is safe," Reynolds said.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com