FREEHOLD – Police continue to investigate a fire that occurred inside two downtown Freehold restaurants on Jan. 24 around 3 p.m.
A fire inside Federici’s Family Restaurant was the cause of smoke damage to both Federici’s and its next door neighbor, The Court Jester Restaurant, officials said.
When reports of smoke inside both restaurants were made to officials, Freehold Fire and Police Departments arrived on the scene. A fire in the wall of Federici’s was the cause of the smoke. Both restaurants were affected as the wall runs parallel to The Court Jester, said Freehold Fire Department officials.
The fire was extinguished quickly and Federici’s sustained only minor smoke and water damage, while The Court Jester sustained some minor smoke damage as well.
Everyone was evacuated safely and no one was injured. Downtown Freehold was closed down between Court Street and Center Street following the incident.
The department thanked all involved, including the East Freehold Fire Company, the Freehold Township Independent Fire Company, the Adelphia Fire Company, and the Freehold First Aid Squad.
Federici’s posted a thank you to the departments for their help during the situation: “Thank you to everyone for your support, everyone is safe. We would like to thank the Freehold firefighters, Police and EMS for all your brave work!”
The Freehold Police Department and Monmouth County Fire Marshall’s are investigating the incident.
