A large fire damaged an auto repair shop, a deli and two apartment units in Jersey City Friday evening.
Fire officials say that the fire started in Tony’s Garage auto body shop near Fifth Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard around 5 p.m. The fire spread to the deli next door and also to two apartment units.
Six apartment residents were evacuated and no one was hurt.
Chief Steve McGill tells News 12 New Jersey that the fire was caused by a leaking acetylene tank. He says an employee tried to put out the fire himself, but failed to do so.
“They heard the tank go and tried to put it out,” McGill says. “[The fire] extended to a car and some other items in the building and then extended to the corner store.”
It took firefighters about three hours to fully get the fire under control because a gas line was feeding the flames.
PSEG crews had to jack hammer the street to cut off the gas line.