Jersey City fire leaves residents homeless before the holidays
The chief said two residents were hospitalized from smoke inhalation, as well as a firefighter with a facial cut.
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Three people were injured and several families were forced to find somewhere else to go after a two-alarm fire in Jersey City before noon on Friday.
“When I got the call from my mom, I was at work, and I just left immediately,” said Julio Martinez.
His 62-year-old mother lives on the first floor of the 16-family complex on Winfield Avenue.
“They heard the banging of the door, and luckily, her aide was there, so they opened the door for the firefighters,” Martinez said. “Luckily, she’s OK. She’s lucky her apartment was not damaged, one of the few. I saw the damage. It’s pretty bad in there.”
“It was a task just to find where the fire was,” said Jersey City Fire Chief Jack Johnson, “It was a lot of manpower to open up the walls and the ceilings just to get to the fire.”
Fire crews rescued other residents in wheelchairs.
“We called for assistance to carry them out in their wheelchairs to get them out of the building,” Johnson said. “That was the task at hand. But we’re prepared for that, trained for that.”
The chief said two residents were hospitalized from smoke inhalation, as well as a firefighter with a facial cut.
Flames spread through the walls and the floors, causing extensive damage to some units. The Red Cross says some residents were able to return to their apartments. Others won’t be able to for some time.
“It’s going to be a long time to be able to access the building again,” Johnson said.
Crews, including the arson squad, will determine the cause. The Red Cross is assisting some of the residents displaced by the fire.
