The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force and is looking into a one-alarm blaze yesterday that left a man in critical but stable condition, while the Bayonne Fire Department says they responded to “an explosion and smoke coming from a basement.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“At 5:24 p.m. [yesterday], the BFD was dispatched to 167 West 9th Street on a report of an explosion and smoke coming from the basement. Arriving companies found a fire in the basement and one victim outside the 2 1/2 story two-family home,” Bayonne Deputy Fire Chief Bill Bartos said in a statement on Monday.
“Firefighters used one hand line to extinguish the blaze which was declared under control at 5:46 p.m. The victim, who is in critical condition, was transported by McCabe Ambulance to St. Barnabas Burn Center. A fire investigation is underway by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Regional Arson Task Force.”
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez corroborated the address and that a man was injured, though made no mention of the explosion, in a statement.
Responding officers found a fire in the basement of the residential building and a 56- year-old man was located with serious injuries before being transported by EMS to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston for treatment.
He is still in the Essex County hospital and remains in critical but stable condition, Suarez said in a statement.
The cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation by the Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force and the Bayonne Fire Department.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345 or to leave a tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.
All information will be kept confidential.
