A borough woman facing eviction who refused to leave her home drew a response from a State Police SWAT team before the home became engulfed in flames, a local official said.
Roosevelt Mayor Peggy Malkin said the Cedar Court woman not move out of the house after the home’s owner had recently begun eviction proceedings because he wanted to sell it.
Malkin said the woman had lived in the small borough for at least 10 years and worked as a pet sitter.
“She had many, many cats,” Malkin said, uncertain whether they escaped the blaze. The woman had recently built a separate “cat house,” she said.
The New Jersey State Police has not released information on the incident.