Steve Hoeffner went to Morristown town hall to pay his taxes on Thursday morning, but arrived too early. So he went for some coffee and a newspaper.
“I came back at 9 o’clock, to find a fire in my kitchen,” he said.
The Morristown Fire Department quickly extinguished the flames, confining most of the damage to the rear kitchen area of the one-family residence at 74 Market St.
“The guys put a very good stop on this,” said Deputy Chief Jon Prachthauser.
The home is next to Hoeffner’s butcher shop, a fixture in town since World War II. Morristown’s last butcher shop, it closed last fall after running afoul of town and county inspectors. Hoeffner said Thursday that he is in talks to rent the storefront.
Morristown Fire Chief Robert Flanagan said the call came in at 8:54 a.m. from a nearby gas station. About 15 firefighters responded. Fire was visible when they arrived.
The chief said the fire was contained within about 10 minutes.
A rapid intervention crew en route from the Madison Fire Department was prepared to help, but was not needed this time, Prachthauser said.
Morristown police closed Mount Kemble Avenue at Market Street while firefighters were on the scene.
