10:08 PM, Aug. 31, 2011 | Comments
Beth Mills holds Bon Jovi memorabilia that she recovered when her Monmouth Avenue home caught fire.
ROBERT WARD/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Stephanie Loder and Charles Webster | Staff Writers
But shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, Mills and husband Jim watched as firefighters put water on flames shooting from the second-floor window of their home at 37 Monmouth Ave. And on Wednesday, investigators determined where the fire originated: reportedly a power strip behind the television set, Beth Mills said.
Mills said she even asked firefighters to pay special attention to saving the Bon Jovi memorabilia. Firefighters rescued everything which included autographed photographs, an autographed shirt and more items with Bon Jovi’s picture on them.
For Beth Mills, the best memory of the home she’s lived in for 12 years was when she was surprised by Bon Jovi who showed up with pink roses and Domino’s pizza on Sept. 6, 2005. Mills had entered a contest sponsored by Harpo productions, and had friends send 100 emails in to tell Oprah Winfrey about how much she liked Bon Jovi.
She won.
“My sisters were both pregnant and they showed up at my house, but they couldn’t tell me I had won, it had to be a surprise. So I’m like what are they doing here? And my son was just five and bouncing on the trampoline so I grabbed him and said, ‘Where is the pizza?’ Then the doorbell rings and there was my pizza!’’
Mills said she flew to tape the Oprah show days later in Chicago.
The Bon Jovi moment at the Monmouth Avenue home is also listed in the 25th Anniversary commemorative issue of O magazine as a most-memorable-viewer moment, she said.
Now Mills, 44, said she tried to keep that memory of Bon Jovi on her doorstep in perspective as she watched her home burn on Tuesday night.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,’’ said Beth Mills. “To stand and see the flames coming our of your windows. It was just unreal.’’
The family, which also includes sons Zachary, 18, and Ryan, 11, smelled smoke late in the evening, she said.
Beth Mills said her husband went to the second floor to investigate the smell, then told everyone to get out of the building and dial 911.
Middletown Fire Department was dispatched at 10:12 p.m. Tuesday.
First Assistant Chief John D’Altilio found flames and smoke coming from several windows on the second floor of the single-family home, according to fire department spokesman John Isaksen.
One firefighter received a minor injury battling the blaze, a fire official said. The firefighter was treated and released from the hospital, officials said.
While the Mills family is very grateful to the fire department for saving much of their home and the Bon Jovi memorabilia, they know it’s going to be awhile before life returns to normal.
The family escaped with just the clothes they were wearing and everything else in the house is either smoke- or water-damaged, Beth Mills said.
The fire is just the latest of problems for the family who said they moved to this community from Somerset County because they liked the school system.
Two years ago, Jim Mills, 48, was diagnosed with cancer and had a 30-pound tumor removed from his stomach. And he also lost a kidney. He also had five tumors and part of his colon removed earlier this year, his wife said.
Mills works as a maintenance manager in New Brunswick. His wife works locally as a materials manager.
Son Zachary Mills is supposed to start college at Brookdale Community College next week.
Son Ryan Mills is supposed to start school at Thorn Middle School next week.
The fire damaged clothing and other items they were going to use for school, Beth Mills said. She said she is trying to work with Century 21 to find a rental and she is also trying to find a company that will clean the smoke from their clothes. Neighbors, she said, have tried to help as well.
“The insurance adjusters are telling us that we won’t be back in the house for another six months and we’re going to have to go live somewhere else,’’ Beth Mills said. “And we need to find a place to rent that is pet friendly because we recently got a puppy. What a time to get a puppy.’’
For now, Beth Mills has stored her Bon Jovi memorabelia — which includes a framed shirt with his autograph and autographed photographs — with neighbors and was taking it Wednesday to her sister’s home in Keyport.
Beth Mills is optimistic.
“Maybe Jon will appear on my doorstep again with some good news or a house to stay in,’’ Mills said. “You just never know.’’
I am glad that she and her family are ok, first you make it through Irene, then this.
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