The cause of the 9:50 p.m. blaze is still not known Watch video
EWING -- A fast-moving fire tore through a Ewing home Tuesday night, leaving a couple with nothing but the clothes on their backs and killing one of their dogs.
"I'm just devastated," Joe Lacovara, 69, said as he stood outside his gutted house on Ronit Drive Wednesday. "This was my little castle."
The flames destroyed the roof, melted the vinyl siding and reduced the back of the house to a charred frame. On Wednesday, ash and debris was strewn across the yard and the smell of smoke still lingered in the air as police and fire officials continued to investigate.
The cause of the 9:50 p.m. blaze is still not known.
Lacovera said they had just shut off the above-ground pool and were in the downstairs family room watching TV when his girlfriend saw flames in the screened-in porch.
"I opened the door and looked down and saw the fire in the corner of the screened room and then it started going up the side of the house," he said. "I tried to get the hose to hose it a little, but then it was just too hot and crazy."
They had two Dobermans, Rambo and Coco. Though Coco was able to run outside, Rambo lost his way in the thick smoke.
"I could hear him crying," Lacovera said. "I tried to go in the front door, but the black smoke was coming out and I couldn't get in there to save him."
Lacovera now has to begin picking up the pieces. He lived in the home for the last 18 years and much of his belongings -- including pictures of his four kids and grandkids and mementos from his time in the U.S. Navy -- appear to be gone.
"I just don't know how it happened and I don't know what I'm going to do in the future," he said. "I have a lot of friends around that are helping."
Ralf Brandmeier, chief of West Trenton Volunteer Fire Company, said between 80 and 100 firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire from Ewing, Lawrence, Hopewell, Hamilton and Trenton. It took several hours before it was brought under control.
"For the short time it took me to get there, there was a lot of fire," Brandmeier said.
Firefighters pulled Rambo out, but the dog had already died, he said. There were no other injuries.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.