6-Year-Old Boy Killed, Over a Dozen Injured After Fire Rips Through New Jersey Apartment

Mar. 15, 2025

Cambridge Hall, an apartment complex.Photo:CBS Philadelphia/Youtube

CBS Philadelphia/Youtube

A family is mourning after a New Jersey apartment fire claimed the life of a young boy.

According to apress releaseshared Thursday, Jan. 2, officers with the Ewing Police Department responded to “multiple 9-1-1 calls” around 3 p.m. in regards to a fire at Cambridge Hall apartment complex, located at 860 Lower Ferry Road in Ewing, Mercer County.

Upon arriving, officers were told a child was trapped on the fourth floor.

“Officers began evacuating the building and attempted to reach the main apartment on the fourth floor where the fire originated, encountering heavy smoke and flames,” the press release said, adding that they were eventually able to locate an “unresponsive” 6-year-old.

The child was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, the department said. The victim was identified as Jayden Gotell-Watkins of Baldwinsville, N.Y., police said in alater press release. He was visiting his relatives.

“He was a good kid, very funny kid. He was smart," his great-grandmother, Dorothy Smith, toldNBC 10 Philadelphiain an interview published Friday, Jan. 3.

Cambridge Hall apartment complex.Google maps

Google maps

“When I saw all the fire trucks and cops cars and everything blocked off the streets, I knew something was going on,” witness Joey Cvoliga toldNBC 10 Philadelphia.

Another witness who provided video of flames and smoke escaping from a fifth floor window also spoke to NBC 10 Philadelphia.

“Black smoke started billowing out and then they started breaking all the windows I guess. But [it] seemed like there was a lot of panic trying to get people off the fourth floor,” the individual, who remained anonymous, said.

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In addition to the death of the child, 11 police officers, a firefighter and three residents were taken to hospitals to treat injuries ranging from minor burns and smoke inhalation to exhaustion, police said. All police officers have since been released from the hospitals.

“The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental,” police said in their Jan. 3 update.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Ewing Police Detective David Hartmann at (609) 882-1313 ext. 7544.

source: people.com