Photos and info by Ron Jeffers
An early morning fire tore through an occupied two-story wood-frame dwelling and spread to exposures, displacing some 18 residents in Jersey City, New Jersey on August 25, 2021.
Shortly before 3 a.m., a full assignment was dispatched to 10 Irving Street for a fire with a report of two occupants trapped. Engine 14 arrived to report heavy fire in a dwelling, fire between two dwellings, two buildings involved, and the radio transmission ended with the order to strike a second-alarm.
As fire companies arrived and stretched hose lines, live-overhead power lines fell on Ladder Co. 7, in front of the fire buildings. News 12 New Jersey reported that four firefighters suffered injuries ranging from minor shock and burns. A third alarm was transmitted by Deputy Chief Joe Menendez.
Two residents said they jumped about six feet from the building to escape the flames. Several EMS units were on the scene tending to residents and firefighters. Approximately seven firefighters were injured. Some suffered from heat exhaustion and becoming dizzy.
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The Jersey City Gong Club canteen unit arrived on the scene and immediately distributed bottled water to firefighters along the street and at their vehicle.
Fourth and fifth alarms were sounded for additional resources, on this humid morning, in the middle of a heat waive that hit the metropolitan area after tropical storm Henri lefts its mark.
Flames broke through the roof of number 10, and flames also extended to 12 and 14 Irving Street. Firefighters were ordered off of the roof of the original fire building due to the heavy fire condition.
Residents stood in the street and on porches across the street and watched their homes burn. They were also concerned about their pets that did not escape with them. They were crying for their cats. The crowd applauded when a firefighter brought out one cat to be reunited with its owner.
The main body of fire was darkened down shortly after 4 a.m., and the multiple-alarm was declared under control around 5:40 a.m.
The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force was on the scene to begin an investigation into the cause of the fire.
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