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The final report in the investigation into a Point Pleasant Beach motel fire that killed four people says the fire was started by a discarded cigarette.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office says a resident who fell asleep face down in a couch while smoking sparked the March 21 blaze at the Mariner’s Cove Motel.
Surveillance video from inside the motel at 3:17 a.m. shows John Alberti looking for change in seat cushions in a second-floor lounge. The video shows him as he lights a cigarette, falls asleep and allows embers to fall into the couch.
Surveillance video from inside the motel shows Alberti rummaging through seat cushions in a lounge. He later is shown face down in a chair with a lit cigarette. At one point, embers are visible at the end of Alberti’s cigarette and seconds later they are not. Smoke and flames erupted at about 5:11 a.m., approximately 90 minutes after Alberti left the area, and fully engulfed the area within 20 minutes, according to the surveillance video.
Autopsies on the fire victims ruled the victims’ cause of death to be smoke inhalation, with the manner of death being accidental.
Based on Alberti’s conduct on the video, the Ocean County Medical Examiner tested and found opiates in his system.
