Story and photos by Ron Jeffers
An early morning fire involved the top floor of an irregular shaped three-story mixed occupancy building in Union City, New Jersey, on December 31, 2013. The ground floor contains the Ambassador Veterinary Hospital and a driving school office. The upper floors have apartments and office space.
Just before 5 a.m., North Hudson Regional (NJ) fire companies were dispatched to a report of smoke coming from a building at the corner of 38th Street and Kennedy Blvd. Engine 5 reported heavy smoke showing from the roof area of the corner building.
The veterinarian, his family, two pet dogs, plus a family that lived in an upper floor apartment self-evacuated. A cat and several birds were also removed from the building.
Firefighters had difficulty advancing handlines inside the structure due to irregular-sized common stairways, and a second alarm was transmitted by acting Deputy Chief Anthony Venezia.
As flames began to break through the roof on the “D” side of the structure, a third alarm was struck.
When Fire Control announced, the incident was 45 minutes old; firefighters’ aggressive attack had knocked down much of the visible fire.
Despite 20-degree weather and quickly freezing water in the streets, there were no serious injuries reported.
