Fire photographer Ron Jeffers shared photos of firefighters operating at the scene of a fatal fire in Weehawken, New Jersey, that took the life of a 69-year-old man on January 1, 2023.
The North Hudson Regional Fire Department was dispatched to a reported fire at 708 Boulevard East shortly after 10:30 a.m. The three-story-plus apartment building, constructed on a hill, also possess an entrance in the rear on Parkview Avenue. Arriving units discovered smoke in an alleyway. They approached the Parkview Avenue entrance and located the fire after a long hallway walk to the south side of the structure.
Heavy, blinding smoke consumed the fire apartment and vented out of the apartment windows, eventually venting out of the Parkview entrance. Residents of other apartments were self-evacuating. Firefighters stretched handlines and transmitted a second-alarm assignment.
During the search, in what firefighters described as a “cluttered” apartment, the resident was located and carried out to the street. They radioed to the incident commander, Deputy Chief Mike Falco, for EMS to the report to the Parkview door. Members immediately began CPR as a Weehawken EMS team arrived.
The victim was transported to Palisades Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at approximately 11:30 a.m., according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office.
The initial investigation by the Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force determined that the fire did not appear suspicious. The cause was still under investigation.
