Smoke Alarms Did Not Go Off In Eatontown Popeye's Fire, Police Say

EATONTOWN, NJ — It was Eatontown police officers on a routine patrol who smelled smoke and first noticed there was a fire at the Popeye's on Rt. 35 early Friday morning, according to Eatontown Police Det. Lt. Edward Nelson.

"Either the restaurant did not have fire alarms, or they did not go off. That's what we were told at the scene," he said. "It was officers on a routine patrol who smelled smoke in the area, investigated and found that the roof of the Popeye's was on fire."

This was at approximately 5 a.m. Friday. Those officers called the fire department, and firefighters were still battling the blaze at 8:30 a.m. The cause of the fire is currently unknown, but it started in the roof area and spread to consume the whole interior of the fast-food restaurant.

"The whole building was totaled; they have to tear down the building," said Nelson.

The police officers who first discovered the fire were Chris Quackenbush, Matthew Schou and Katelyn Johnson.

Mutual aid from multiple surrounding towns responded; the Red Bank Fire Department posted the above photos.