A longtime South Jersey high school coach and his wife were killed after their SUV slammed into a neighbor’s home in Harrison Township, N.J., authorities said.
Shortly after 6 p.m. on Jan. 17, Thomas Hengel, 72, and his wife, Lisa Hengel, 61, were inside their Hyundai Palisade when the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a nearby house, ABC 6 reported, citing investigators. The impact triggered a fire that rapidly engulfed both the SUV and the home.
No one inside the house was hurt, CBS Philadelphia reported, but the residence has been left uninhabitable.
“At this point, we don’t believe it’s anything other than a tragic accident,” Harrison Township Police Sgt. Kurt Pflugfelder said, according to ABC 6.
Harrison Township police and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating.
Neighbors described the frantic moments after the crash.
“The flames were up by the roof, they were up high,” neighbor Gary DeVine said, per ABC 6.
DeVine told CBS Philadelphia that he and his wife rushed outside and saw the “corner house was on fire,” adding, “The vehicle was half in there.”
Another neighbor, Mike Misuraco, told the outlet the Hengels “were amazing neighbors, they were really good,” and said “they loved each other.” Misuraco also described the tragedy as “unfortunate” in comments to NBC 10.
Lisa Hengel spent 30 years designing landscapes across South Jersey. Thomas Hengel served as the cross-country and track coach at Clearview High School for more than 40 years and taught for 33 years. A 1972 graduate of the school, he returned in 1981 and remained until retiring in 2023, Suburban Family Magazine previously reported.
Thomas was named South Jersey Coach of the Year in 2014, NJ.com reports. In 2018, he was inducted into the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame for leading Clearview teams to Gloucester County and Tri-County Conference championships.
Former state champion Cassandra Kulik told CBS Philadelphia that Thomas was “like a father figure” to her. She recalled teammates pooling their money for a gift card so he could take Lisa out, saying they recognized “she just did the same amount of time of years” given the countless hours he dedicated to his athletes.
Former Clearview Athletic Director Michael Vicente said Thomas became his mentor in the early 1990s.
“Tom was the most efficient, hard-working, knowledgeable and prepared coach I have ever come across,” Vicente told NJ.com. “The time he put into his coaching and athletes was beyond extraordinary. Tom’s and Lisa’s absence will be deeply felt for years.”
On Monday, Jan. 19, the school lowered its flags to half-staff.
“We will honor their memory by carrying forward the values they modeled so faithfully: dedication, respect, compassion, and service to others,” Superintendent John Horchak III wrote. “Their legacy lives on in every student who learned to believe in themselves, in every life strengthened by their example, and in the community they helped shape.”
