Houses on fire after plane crashes in New Jersey residential area

Local fire department says it's 'trying to save the neighbourhood' as blaze consumes multiple houses

A plane crashed into a residential area of New Jersey on Tuesday, according to officials, causing a fire that spread across two houses.

Reports indicated multiple people were aboard the Cessna 414 when it crashed at about 11:00 am local time on Berkley Avenue.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured in the incident. A photo from the block showed numerous firefighters battling a blaze as it appeared to consume the entire second story of a home, with smoke billowing above the street.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) arrived to the scene shortly after and launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

An employee for a local NBC News affiliate who reportedly lives a block away from the crash told New Jersey’s News 4 there was “very heavy flames and very heavy black smoke coming up from the fire” on Tuesday morning. He said he heard the noise of the impact from his home.

The outlet reported a sudden drop in visibility at the nearby Linden Airport from 10 miles (16 kilometres) to two miles (3 kilometres) around the time of the crash.

More than 200 firefighters were battling back the blaze, John McCormac, the mayor of Colonial, New Jersey, told CBS News.

There were no reported injuries on the ground, and nobody was in the house the plane crashed into on Tuesday.

“This is all hands on deck,” the mayor said.

He also said it was “fortunate” that nobody was home at the time, adding: “There was a car in the driveway, so everybody thought somebody was home, but nobody was home, they confirmed with the owner.”

A next door neighbour reportedly managed to escape before the flames consumed her home as well.

Officials said local power and gas had been shut off as crews worked to contain the fire.

The plane reportedly appeared to be travelling from Virginia to Linden at the time of the crash.

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