Hackettstown Man Faces Child Endangerment Charges In June 1 Fire

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ — Though circumstances surrounding a recent fire in the FruitiMex building remain under investigation, Hackettstown Police charged a man on Tuesday connected with leaving a two-year-old boy alone in an apartment before the blaze broke out; and while it was in process.

Police thankfully found and rescued the unharmed child after ascending a ladder to the second floor and seeing him on a bed. They have however, charged his caretaker Delvin A. Montes-Funez, 33, with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, for leaving the unidentified boy alone before and as the fire ripped through parts of the building on 116 Main Street on June 1.

No other injuries stemmed from the incident.

Two of the apartments in the area where the boy was located are considered uninhabitable since the fire, with minor water damage to the FruitiMex storage facility on the building’s first floor.

The FruitMex store at 118 Main Street sustained no damage.

According to police department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Tynan, Montes-Funez is awaiting his court appearance on the charges in the Warren County Correctional Facility.

The Hackettstown Detective Bureau, Mount Olive Township Fire Marshal and Warren County Fire Marshal continue to investigate the origins of the two-alarm fire, which was called in at approximately 1 p.m. on June 1, with police climbing a ladder and attempting to put out the fire on their own before fire departments from Hackettstown and surrounding areas arrived to the scene.

While fire departments were at the fire, which took until 2:15 p.m. that afternoon to extinguish, traffic remained closed for more than two hours on Route 46, between Route 517 and West Stiger Street.

Along with the Hackettstown Police and Fire Department, Hackettstown’s Department of Public Works, building inspector and Office of Emergency Management helped at the scene. Tynan said the Washington Borough Fire Department, Tri-County Fire Company, Independence Township Fire Department, Allamuchy Township Fire Department, Budd Lake Fire Department, Schooley's Mountain Fire Department and Warren County Fire Coordinator, provided mutual aid. Representatives of Jersey Central Power and Light and Elizabethtown Gas also responded to the incident.

Questions or comments about this story? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.