6-year-old dies after getting trapped in burning Ewing high-rise

🔥The fire started around 3 p.m. in a six-story apartment building

🔥Residents told police officers a child was trapped on the fourth floor

🔥13 police officers, 1 firefighter and 3 residents were injured

EWING — A 6-year-old boy was killed and 13 police officers were injured in an apartment building fire Thursday afternoon.

The fire was reported just before 3 p.m. at the six-story Cambridge Hall apartments on Lower Ferry Road. The first arriving officers entered the building after residents outside told them a child was trapped by smoke and flames in a fourth-floor unit, Police Chief Al Rhodes said.

Firefighters found the unresponsive child, who was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center where the boy was pronounced dead. A firefighter and three residents were also hospitalized for smoke inhalation, burns and exhaustion, according to Rhodes.

The child was identified as Jayden Gotel-Watkins of Baldwinville, NY. He was at the apartment visiting relatives.

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16 residents displaced by fire

Ewing's three fire companies responded along with mutal assistance from surrounding communities.

The fire displaced 16 people from 12 units, according to Red Cross New Jersey. Seven volunteers were sent to assist residents with recovery and help them to contact their insurance companies.

Rhodes said the cause of the fire is under investigation but it is not considered suspicious.

Cambridge Hall is a 589-unit apartment building for residents age 55+ built in the 1970s.

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