Pregnant women and family left homeless by fire in Saddle Brook

An Internet funding campaign is raising money to help a pregnant woman and her family who fled a fire this weekend in Saddle Brook with little other than the clothes on their backs.

Brittany and Joseph Scocimara, who are expecting their second child in three weeks, and their 2-year-old daughter share the two-story brick house on Hayes Drive with Brittany's parents, her brother and sister, according to Joseph’s aunt, Linda Skene of Matawan.

The family raced out of the home when a fire that started at around 9 a.m. Saturday in a backyard shed spread to the house and began burning its way through the back wall, Skene said.

“They spotted the fire in the back, they grabbed their daughter and ran out. Joseph ran back in to get his daughter’s cat,” said Skene. “They lost everything — all the things for the baby, her whole room — everything. They didn’t even have anything to brush their teeth.”

About 50 firefighters from Saddle Brook and four surrounding communities brought the three-alarm blaze under control in about two hours, said township Fire Chief Christoper Scoma. The fire caused enough damage that at least some of the house will have to be demolished, he said. A house next door also sustained exterior fire damage, he said.

While the exact cause remains under investigation, Scoma said a space heater in the shed probably caused the fire.

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Skene said her nephew, who is a co-owner of 5-Star Towing in Saddle Brook, told her the fire started when something sparked gas that had leaked from a weed whacker stored in the shed.

She said the extended family was scattered Sunday among a combination of relatives’ homes and a hotel. Skene’s daughter, Sharon, started a campaign on GoFundMe, which is available at gofundme.com/kiki-and-baby-joey.