NEWS

Cause of fatal fire in Morristown under investigation

Michael Izzo
@MIzzoDR

MORRISTOWN – Firefighters were able to pull a woman from her burning home Sunday but efforts to revive her failed.

The Fire Department received a call at about 6:56 a.m. Sunday about the fire in a split level home at 1 Shady Lane.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire and smoke and neighbors reported that an elderly woman, Teresa Sgaramella, was in the house and she usually slept in a back room, Fire Chief Robert Flanagan said

Teams of firefighters began to put out the flames while others entered the home and tried to find Sgarmella amid the smoke that filled the home and left them with no visibility, Flanagan said.

The fire appeared to have started in the TV or recreation room of the home, which neighbors said Sgarmella also used as a bedroom, Flanagan said.

The home was ventilated to clear out the smoke and two Morris Township firefighters, John Murphy and Nicolos Dimogerodakif, located Sgarmella in a living room area that was upstairs from the source of the fire.

Murphy, a former Morris County freeholder, and Dimogerodakif took Sgarmella outside, where Murphy performed CPR on her until Atlantic Health paramedics arrived and took her to the Morristown Medical Center.

Nobody else was in the house and no other injuries were reported, Flanagan said.

The recreation room had a glass sliding door leading to the backyard, which broke and allowed the fire to spread into the kitchen, which suffered significant damage, Flanagan said.

“There is extensive rear damage to the home due to that TV recreation room,” Flanagan said. “The sliding glass door broke and allowed the fire to spread up into the kitchen, which is also charred.”

The fire was under control after 25 to 30 minutes, but firefighters remained on scene until about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Flanagan said.

In all, about 35 fire fighters responded from Morristown, Morris Township, and Madison, Flanagan said. Personnel from the Morristown Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutors Major Crimes Unit also responded to the scene to investigate.

Flanagan said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Morristown Police Chief Peter Demnitz confirmed an investigation into the death and the circumstances surrounding the fire in a press release Sunday.

The prosecutor’s office said that “further information will be made available once the investigation concludes and the Medical Examiner has conducted a post-mortem examination.”