Springfield FD Helps Battle Summit Fire on Wednesday Night

A kitchen fire at a Linden Place home is under control Wednesday night.

 responded to an alarm at 25 Linden Place just after 6 p.m. Deputy Chief Rick DeGroot said a cooking oil fire, which is very common for the SFD, got into a vent and extended to the exterior of the home.

"We were able to knock it down pretty quickly," DeGroot said."The family is very lucky."

The fire caused minor damage to the kitchen cabinets and smoke damage on the second floor of the home, owned by Mary and Lee Martino. DeGroot said there was also minor water damage.

Bill Jankowski, the neighbor at 27 Linden Place, said he was in his kitchen cooking when he first smelled smoke and then saw black smoke pouring out of a vent on the side of the house.

"If the smoke wasn't black I wouldn't have seen it," he said.

Jankowski said he called to his wife to call 911 while he ran next door.

However, Jankowski said no one was home. DeGroot said the fire was still under investigation and could not confirm if anyone was home or the exact cause of the fire.

"I was just about ready to bang the door down," he said. "I was only worried about the kids."

Jankowski said all four of the Martinos' girls, Elizabeth, Kate, Jenny and Amy, and their yellow lab, Shooter, were uninjured.

A ladder truck from Springfield and an engine from Millburn also responded to the scene.