HOBOKEN — A two-alarm fire hit an apartment building on Clinton Street in Hoboken on Wednesday evening, sending three people to the hospital and forcing the evacuation of up to 125 others, reports the Star-Ledger. A number of residents sheltered at Hoboken High School during the blaze, according to officials.
Firefighters responded to an alarm in a third-floor apartment at 917 Clinton St. at 5:51 p.m. Upon arriving, Hoboken Office of Emergency Management coordinator Kenneth Ferrante told the Star-Ledger, they called in a second alarm and were subsequently able to contain the fire to the single apartment, though other parts of the building sustained smoke damage.
Ferrante said the fire appeared to have been started by unattended cooking. The apartment where the blaze began sustained heavy fire damage.
Of those taken to Hoboken University Medical Center, two were residents suffering from smoke inhalation. In addition, a firefighter sought treatment after suffering from heat exhaustion.
According to reports, while firefighters were in the building, residents waited across the street in Columbus Park. Ferrante said he expected that residents of 917 Clinton St. would be able to return to their apartments that night, except for those living in the apartment where the fire began.
The same block of apartments suffered a fire in March of 2012. At the time, sources said that one was caused by a candle.
Two-alarm fire in Hoboken apartment building; 125 evacuated
