UNION CITY AND BEYOND – A three story residential building collapsed near the corner of 38th Street and Park Avenue in Union City, a few blocks from the Weehawken border, after a fire gutted the structure and a neighboring residential building on Tuesday afternoon. As of Wednesday morning, the cause of the fire was yet to be determined, according to North Hudson Fire Chief Brion McEldowney.
“We do at this time believe it started in the basement of the original fire building,” McEldowney said. “The fire then spread up from the basement through the interior walls.”
The collapsed building is located at 3807 Park Ave. The fire spread to a neighboring building, 3809 Park Ave., which survived the collapse, but was gutted by the fire.
McEldowney said the collapse was “not unexpected” from the firefighters’ standpoint, and they were able to safely evacuate all fire personnel from the building before its collapse.
McEldowney said the fire was “under control” but did not declare it extinguished. Firefighters were still on the scene on Wednesday.
“We do hope on having someone in there this morning [Wednesday] to investigate the cause and origin,” he said. “It’s doubtful if they’ll be able to determine a cause because there is so much damage.” — Ray Smith
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