Officials: 1 dog killed, multiple families displaced in fire that destroyed Elizabeth homes
Fire officials say one building that was vacant is being deemed a total loss after fully collapsing. They say homes to the left and right side of the vacant building were damaged.
More Stories
A Sunday night fire burned through four buildings in Elizabeth, causing a vacant home to collapse and displacing several families. A dog was also killed in the fire.
Red Cross says it's assisting 15 people from four families. Financial assistance is being provided to the families who are impacted as they work to find shelter.
Fire officials say one building that was vacant is being deemed a total loss after fully collapsing. They say homes to the left and right side of the vacant building were also damaged. A home facing the back of the structure was being closely watched after significant exterior warping.
Deputy Chief Edgar Ruiz says fire crews made sure the homes were evacuated.
“Nobody deserves this. Everybody was sleeping at that time,” said James Reeves, a neighbor in the area. “They lost everything. It’s raining, they’re in their pajamas and they’re all soaking wet, wondering what to do next.”
Multiple fire crews from responding agencies, including Elizabeth fire and police, remained on the scene Monday morning to put out the fire and hot spots on Pine Street.
Crews were able to get flames under control after battling the fire for more than 90 minutes. They will continue to monitor the buildings for potential hot spots.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown. An arson unit is investigating.
