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First floor residents of the Munroe Towers were briefly evacuated following a fire that broke out Sunday in one of the clothing dryers in the basement laundry room.

At 1:41 p.m. members of the Asbury Park Fire Department arrived at the 15-story rental complex where they found heavy smoke in the basement and parts of the first floor, according to Fire Marshall Garret Giberson.

The smoke was traced to a fire that broke out in one of the dryer units in the basement. Contents of the dryer caught fire but firefighters extinguished the blaze “quickly and efficiently,” Giberson said.

Residents were evacuated from the first floor and those returning to the 15-story rental complex were held outside while firefighters put out the blaze and vented the smoke, he said.

The extent of the damage was contained to the dryer that caught fire and one adjacent to it, said Giberson.

Firefighters cleared the area and residents were permitted back into the building just before 3 p.m.

[Photo courtesy of Garret Giberson.]

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