By Jim Hague
Reporter staff writer
A third fire in a vacant apartment building in Guttenberg early Monday morning damaged the structure so much that it had to be torn down.
The three-alarm blaze was the third fire to damage the building in the last eight months, fire officials said. According to North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue Chief Brion McEldowney, the NHRFR received a call at 2:29 a.m. Monday about the two-story structure located at 110 71st St.
“By the time our first company arrived, the building was engulfed in flames,” McEldowney said. “There was heavy fire in the first and second floors.”
The building’s fire history made the decision to fight the fire an easy one.
“Because we knew that the building was vacant and that there had been two prior fires there recently, we were not going to risk the lives of firefighters and put firefighters inside that building,” McEldowney said. “We decided to fight it from the outside. It took a lot of water and patience, but since it was unoccupied, we weren’t taking any chances.”
McEldowney said that the building had been vacant for over a year, and that there had been two minor fires during that time.
“The last time there was a fire there, it was during the winter,” McEldowney said. “We knew that there were vagrants in the area back then, but you don’t normally find vagrants at this time of year.”
Still investigating
Because of the nature of the fire, both the New Jersey State Division of Fire Services and the Guttenberg Fire Officer’s office are still investigating the cause. Arson has not been ruled out, but an official determination has not been made.
“Based on what I saw, I don’t have any reason to think it is arson,” McEldowney said. “But the electricity and the gas were cut off. With that in mind, you have to wonder why we had a fire. The investigation is still being carried out.”
McEldowney said that the fire was tough to extinguish, because they could not take an aggressive approach. It took 65 members of the NHRFR to battle it, and it spread to three adjacent buildings, causing some damage to those structures.
“It was a fast-moving fire,” McEldowney said. “The fire melted away some siding on the adjacent buildings, even one building two doors down. That’s how intense the fire was. It also took a lot of water. But we got it under control by 5 a.m., and by 10:15 a.m., we were able to leave the scene.”
Incredibly, no one was injured in the fire. Not a single injury was reported by any of the 65 firefighters and fire officers who were on the scene.
“Something bad is bound to happen in a fire like this,” McEldowney said. “We were very fortunate.”
Since the fire caused heavy damage to the existing structure, the decision was made to raze what was left of the building. By Tuesday morning, the building had been torn down, while NHRFR and Guttenberg fire officials watched to insure that no pertinent evidence would be removed with the remaining debris.
“The building had to be weakened, especially with the previous fires,” McEldowney said. “Since there was previous fire damage, those buildings tend to become more dangerous. They did the right thing in bringing it down.”
Meanwhile, at the same time as NHRFR firefighters were battling the three-alarm fire in Guttenberg, there was another fire to contend with in Union City, on 22nd Street and Central Avenue, but that fire wasn’t as serious as the Guttenberg blaze.
“The crew in Union City extinguished that fire quickly,” McEldowney said. “It was minor in nature.”
Since the NHRFR was in demand with the two fires, they received coverage assistance from the Jersey City Fire Department, according to McEldowney.
Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com