By Kevin Coughlin
Morristown Fire Chief Robert Flanagan warmed up from Saturday’s frigid Morris County St. Patrick’s Parade the old-fashioned way: By fighting a fire.
A few hours after saluting parade Grand Marshal Mike Quinn–a Morristown volunteer–Flanagan and some of his fellow marchers were extinguishing a house fire on Lincoln Street.
“We knocked it down fairly quickly,” the chief said of the fire.
Residents of the duplex were not home at the time of the 5:47 pm blaze, which appeared to originate in an unattended oven, Flanagan said.
Firefighters left the scene about two hours later. Fire damage was contained in the kitchen, but the upstairs and attic sustained extensive smoke damage, the chief said.
The Red Cross helped both displaced families, Flanagan said. The family in the half of the house without the fire may be able to return soon, he said.