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Residents who hadn’t yet evacuated the senior citizen building on Ocean Avenue have all been taken to the homes of friends and family or to a shelter in Wall Township, city manager Terence Reidy has confirmed.

The tower was evacuated as of last night, when more than 70 residents moved out of the building temporarily, Reidy said. The building usually houses about 300 people, most of whom are senior citizens, but many had already evacuated due to last week’s Hurricane Sandy.

“About 30 people were picked up by family members and they’re staying with them,” Reidy said. “The other 41 were placed on buses and taken to the Arthur Brisbane Shelter [in Wall Township].”

The city enjoyed “a high level of cooperation from the Red Cross” during the evacuation, Reidy said. The Red Cross is staffing the Brisbane facility.

The seniors were evacuated because of a small fire that erupted around 9 a.m. yesterday, which fire chief Kevin Keddy attributed to an electrical malfunction in the 480-volt transformer serving the building. The transformer has “a pretty big service,” Keddy said, and is located on the ground floor.

Firefighters responded to the situation but had to wait for power company Jersey Central Power and Light [JCP&L] to come de-energize the building before they could extinguish the fire. The fire was small and localized to the area around the transformer, Keddy said. The equipment in the area of the fire is now melted and needs to be repaired, he said.

The electrical issue was likely caused by the flooding that occurred due to Hurricane Sandy, which struck last Monday, Oct. 29, Keddy said. The tower just had its power restored on Monday after having used a generator for a week.The generator can be used again, but does not provide heat. City officials decided to evacuate residents due to this week’s dropping temperatures.

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