A Jersey City man and his dog died from injuries sustained in a downtown fire under investigation by the Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force, authorities said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
At approximately 12:11 p.m. on Sunday, the Jersey City Fire Department was notified of a smoke condition at 309 10th St., Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a statement.
Members of the Jersey City Fire Department made entry into the single-family residence and located an unresponsive man, later identified as Scot Rienecker, 50, of Jersey City, inside the building.
He was transported by Emergency Medical Services to Jersey City Medical Center and later transferred to the Burn Unit at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where he died on Monday, February 20th at about 8:28 p.m. His dog also died in the fire.
Officials listed him in critical but stable condition yesterday afternoon.
Rienecker was best known for voicing “Goat,” a cartoon character in the shows “Downtown” and “Megas XLR,” where he appeared in a combined 21 episodes, according to IMDB.
“Two teenage slackers find a mecha from the future that had been lying in a New Jersey junkyard for nearly 60 years and make modifications much to the dismay of the robot’s attractive creator,” their description of Megas XLR says.
A preliminary investigation by the Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force determined the fire does not appear suspicious at this time and the cause and origin remain under investigation.
The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force is actively investigating this case with assistance from the Jersey City Fire Department.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345 or leave a tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.
All information will be kept confidential.
