No serious injuries as three-alarm fire burns at Bloomfield four-story building
BLOOMFIELD — A three-alarm fire broke out at the top of a building on Washington Street Thursday morning.
At about 8:15 a.m., a fire was reported at a four-story building near Anthony's Cheesecake, said Fire Chief Lou Venezia. When firefighters arrived, flames were seen shooting out from a fourth-floor window, he said.
The three-alarm fire started on the top floor of the building, but nobody was in the apartment where the fire originated at the time, said Venezia. All other building residents were evacuated, he said.
When Rodrigo Aviles arrived at AviDesign, the signage and advertising design company he owns, he could see his office had suffered significant water damage as firefighters had worked to douse the flames feet above. AviDesign sits at the base of the apartment building that caught fire.
“This is terrible, many people are out of their homes,” Aviles said.
Although no serious injuries were reported, a police officer suffered smoke inhalation and a firefighter suffered an electric shock.
As of 9:20 a.m., flames and smoke were no longer visible. Surrounding buildings had not been damaged by the fire and authorities would let evacuated tenants back in within a few hours, said Venezia.
As of late Thursday morning, displaced residents were wondering what their next steps would be, as the flames subsided and the smoke began to clear.
“I’m thankful for the Bloomfield firefighters that came quickly and did their best.” Aviles said. “But now I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Rodrigo Torrejon is a breaking news reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all the major news happening in North Jersey, subscribe here. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Email: torrejon@northjersey.com Twitter: @rodrigotorrejon
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