For the second time in just over a month, a Toms River house fire rages out of control, this time leaving a family unhurt but devastated.

Kathleen Court house fire (Toms River PD)
Kathleen Court house fire (Toms River PD)
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Firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians responded to an emergency call at 3:04 PM and sped to 1776 Kathleen Court, where they found adults and children inside scurrying to safety.

A woman said that the flames broke out on the lower story, and were climbing the stairs.

Police spokesman Ralph Stocco said that in the five minutes it took first-responders to arrive, flames had begun to burn out of control in the back of the dwelling. Investigators surmised that a large family lived in the home, but did not speculate the total number.

Kathleen Court house fire (Toms River PD)
Kathleen Court house fire (Toms River PD)
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Fire investigators plan to work through the night to trace the cause and origin. Firefighters from the Pleasant Plains, East Dover, Toms River 1 and 2, Island Heights, Lakewood and Manitou Park companies pooled their efforts to knock it down.

On February 14, a blaze that enveloped a house on Fiddlers Run in Toms River took the life of a woman trapped inside.

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