Bayonne firefighters needed just over an hour-and-a-half to extinguish a residential blaze that displaced nine residents this morning, with no serious injuries reported.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
At around 8:47 a.m. this morning, the Bayonne Fire Department responded to reported fire at 40 East 22nd St. Arriving fire companies found a working fire on the first floor and a heavy smoke condition in the building, Fire Chief Keith Weaver said.
The fire was also extending to the upper floors of the building, so firefighters quickly deployed several hose lines to contain and extinguish the fire. This proactive measure prevented the fire from spreading to an attached structure to the fire building, Weaver stated.
One non-ambulatory resident was removed from the adjacent address of the fire building by neighbors prior to the arrival of the fire department, and was transported by McCabe EMS to a local hospital as a precaution.
While the fire was placed under control at 10:23 a.m., firefighters remained on the scene as of this writing to conduct extensive overhauls and extinguish hotspots within the walls of the building. One firefighter suffered a minor injury at the scene and was treated by EMS.
Fire investigators determined the fire was accidental in nature and caused by an electrical malfunction, officials said.
A total of nine people from two buildings, deemed uninhabitable by the city’s building department, have been temporarily displaced and are under the care of the Bayonne Office of Emergency Management and the American Red Cross.
“On behalf of the Fire Department, I would like to recognize the neighbors who assisted the non-ambulatory resident to safety. Their actions prevented the resident from suffering any injuries,” Weaver concluded.
