In the early hours of Monday September first, Pennington families awoke to an explosion at a neighboring property. Only one thousand feet away from Hopewell Valley Central High School, a neighborhood family home fell completely ablaze within minutes.
The three-story home housed seven people, consisting of two adults, three teenagers, senior Mikhailo “MJ” DelMarco (the author of this article) and two younger teenagers, and two elementary-aged children. With thanks to immense luck, only the two adults, as well as two of the three teenagers, occupied the home on the night of the horrific accident. All four occupants managed to escape the home unharmed. Matthew Newberry, the adult male of the home, was transported to Capital Health Medical Center for smoke inhalation and released within a few hours.
At 2:10 AM on that Monday morning, a call went out to fire dispatchers reporting a fire at 15 Dublin Road in Pennington. The eldest daughter of the household, MJ (also this writer), was made aware of the fire moments after awaking from sleep at 2:06 AM. The family promptly escaped the home, with both the female adult and DelMarco contacting emergency services. Pennington Fire Company was paged to the two-alarm fire at 2:12 AM.
It took less than five minutes for the Pennington Police Department to arrive at the household. Officers were quick to assess the scene, and when it was made clear that the family had evacuated, the space immediately outside of the house was cleared of people until the fire department arrived.
“[The police] showed up so fast,” stated Newberry. “Their cars were still rolling.”
Neighboring citizens rushed to the scene of the fire when sirens brought their attention to the incident. Another Hopewell family escorted the four residents into their home across the street from the blaze, where DelMarco and the female adult resident watched firefighters’ efforts as the flames completely engulfed the home. Newberry’s younger daughter escorted Newberry to the hospital when it was encouraged that he receive a medical evaluation.
The fire was officially extinguished by 4:45 AM. First responders left the scene at the all-clear, and the family was left to pick up the pieces. The American Red Cross was contacted and arrived at the scene by morning light. Fire marshals and detectives questioned the two members of the family still near the home, then traveled to Capital Health to interview the other two house residents. Fire detective Micheal Makwinski arrived at the scene of the fire as early as 3 AM and stayed with the family past eight AM.
“He stayed up all night with us,” Newberry stated. “That guy is great.”
When the sun rose and the four members of the family were reunited outside of the ruins of the home, neighbors quickly began stepping up to support the family. Next-door neighbors brought coffee, food, and utensils to the driveway of the home where the four were gathered. Shoes, sweatshirts, and other necessary clothing were given to the family, who had no time during their escape to collect any belongings. In fact, Newberry spent the hours after evacuating clad in a singular sandal, having lost the other while making sure everybody in the home safely escaped.
The youngest teenager of the three and the seven-year-old boy of the family arrived at the house at approximately 9:30 AM, having been informed of the destruction during the night. When it was confirmed that the building was stable enough, the family dug through the remains of the home searching for anything that could have survived the fire, smoke, and water damage.
Shortly after the family was reunited, friends began filling the area surrounding them. Scenes of the teenage children being embraced by visiting friends graced the eyes of onlookers. The general panic over school beginning the day after the fire was quickly remedied when friends of the teens began arriving with bins full of clothing, school supplies, bookbags, and other necessities.
“It’s surreal,” a close friend of the writer stated while visiting on the morning of the fire, “I’ve been in this house so many times, and now it’s all gone.”
People came from all over the state to support the family. Family friends, colleagues, and the parents of visiting teenagers were quick to help with whatever was possible for them. Within hours of the fire, a fundraiser for the family was created on GoFundMe by a close family friend. The fundraiser was shared throughout Hopewell and New Jersey communities across the board. By the end of the day on September first, almost eight thousand dollars were raised for the family through that fundraiser individually.
Parents of neighboring families provided the eldest children of the family with gift cards and basic necessities to provide for their return to school at Hopewell Valley Central High School. HVCHS principal Patricia Riley supplied the eldest three children with merchandise from the institution’s “School Store”, contributing clothing, school supplies, and bags. Boxes and bins full of clothing, school supplies, bookbags, snacks, shoes, and other necessities were distributed to the eldest children, ensuring a prepared first day of school the next day. While the scene of the fire brought extreme support to the family, with neighbors and community members checking in and asking what they could do to support the family, there was also a rise of uncomfortable attention from the community.
Social media posts showcased photographs and videos of the fire and the image of the family’s two cars catching fire along with the house. Comments expressed suspicion, adding on another layer of sadness to the family’s tragic situation. Neighboring members of the community worked to shut down negative commentary and sought to bring as much peace to the family as possible. This included neighbors who monitored the damaged property, asking people unconnected to the recovery or demolition process to leave the area surrounding the devastated home.
Posts were made on the day of the fire and for weeks since asking for reports of any sightings of the family’s surviving cat, who is believed to be wandering around the woods of Pennington near the property. Dozens of area residents have kept their eyes out for a small black kitten with a white diamond shape on his stomach. Neighbors even offered humane traps and constant trap-camera supervision in hopes to help find the kitten.
“There has been word of our Kodiak still roaming Dublin road in Pennington,” stated one of the Facebook posts from the family. “Thank you all so much for your support and for keeping your eyes out. The support from our community means the world to my family, and it is what’s keeping us going during these trying times.”
The Hopewell community has come together to support this Pennington family and great appreciation has been given to everyone who stepped in to help.
“We would never have gotten through this if we didn’t have the support that we do,” multiple members of the family have stated. “We don’t have family around here, so I was shocked that we had all of the support we have had. We really needed it, and we are so lucky.”
As of September twentieth, $34,285 has been raised through just the GoFundMe for the family, with almost 300 donations from across the country. Rebuilding the family’s home is in the initial planning phase, and the family has relocated into a new home that welcomes the seven individuals comfortably. Support has not waivered, and neither has the strength of the family.
DelMarco, as well as the other teenagers of the family, have begun spreading awareness regarding fire hazards. “You never think that it will happen to you,” DelMarco has stated in a TikTok post intended to tell the story of the fire, “I’ve seen a lot of fires. I never thought the same thing could happen to my family.”
The teenagers all have shared the investigated cause of the fire: a drill battery that had been plugged in overnight.
“Nothing was out of the ordinary, and that’s why it’s so shocking,” stated one child, “there’s no one to blame. That battery had been plugged in the same place for years and never had a problem, and one night it just blew up.”
There has been an increase in drill battery explosions and lithium-ion batteries in general. These events have affected too many people, and it has become a mission of the family’s to spread awareness about the risks of leaving electronics charging overnight.
“We aren’t the only family that this has happened to, but we want to make sure that we are spreading awareness so this doesn’t happen again in our community.” 
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-14/new-south-wales-lithium-battery-related-fires/103585608
