Woman Is Evicted For Having Too Many Cats In NJ, Woman Decided To Blow Herself And Her Cats Up

MONMOUTH COUNTY, N.J. - One woman is dead and a house was destroyed after a massive fire Wednesday in Monmouth County, and police say the fire was started on purpose.

The woman known as the ‘cat lady’ faced eviction intentionally burned down the house she shared with dozens of cats.

The fire broke out around 11 a.m. in a home on Cedar Street in the Borough of Roosevelt.

Flames billowed into the sky, and the home has been burnt to the core.

"We're getting reports that the resident turned on the gas of the residence prior to igniting," New Jersey State Police Lt. Lawrence Peele said.

NJSP says the woman living in the Cedar Court home was served an eviction notice but refused to leave. The female tenant threatened to blow up the house, which led to the neighbors being evacuated.

Troopers responded to the house, but a standoff ensued.

"They knocked on our door this morning. Thank God it was a pretty loud knock. I grabbed [my son]. They told us to leave. She was threatening with a bomb or to bomb the house and ended up with a fire," neighbor Erin Luca said.

The home is now a shell of what it once was, the roof and walls completely charred. The fire spread to an attached home, causing significant damage.