Photo and story by Ron Jeffers
Flames lit up the night sky over Clifton, New Jersey, as a fire tore through a three-story mixed occupancy structure on May 31, eventually bringing in fire companies from two counties to fight the blaze. At 11:45 p.m. fire companies were dispatched to a reported fire with people trapped at 221 Dayton Avenue. People in the building were confirmed by first arriving police units.
Ladder 3 reported a working fire, with flames showing from the rear of the structure. In addition, they reported people inside and they were “going in to get them.” One man was removed from the second-floor via fire escape. He suffered burns to his face and hands and was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center.
A second alarm was transmitted upon arrival of Deputy Chief Allura due to the severe exposure problem. The fire did quickly extend to the “B” exposure, a two story mixed occupancy building. Exposure “B-1” was also affected by the fire. This was an adjacent two-story mixed use structure.
A third-alarm was struck and all members were ordered out of the building for a defensive operation to commence. At one point, the dispatcher reported to command that seven engines and three truck were on their way to the scene from mutual aid departments. In all, four alarms were sounded.
Master streams were set up, that included ladder pipes from Clifton, Totowa, Garfield, and a Passaic tower ladder. The roof of Exposure “B” caved in during the fire.
City officials and investigators from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office were investigating the multiple-alarm fire, according to Deputy Fire Chief Norman Tahan. He added, “They are saying it was multiple areas of the building that were on fire at the same time.”
One firefighter was treated for a knee injury. It took several hours to bring the fire under control. Some mutual aid companies were being released around 2:20 a.m.
See more photos HERE.
MORE RON JEFFERS
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- Firefighters Respond to Fire at Carlstadt (NJ) Post Office
