THE AVALON OF EDGEWATER APARTMENT COMPLEX DESTROYED IN MASSIVE
FIRE IN NJ.
SHODDY CONSTRUCTION, CHEAP
CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL, LUCK OF ACCESS TO FIREFIGHTERS, TIGHT SPACE AND MORE ARE
CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS MASSIVE DISASTER: 400 DISPLACED RESIDENTS WHO LOST
EVERYTHING, 200 APARTMENTS DESTROYED AND ALL THE CONTENTS WITHIN
Wednesday, Jan 21, 2015
Everybody knows that the
new areas of Edgewater were built by shady developers (Daibes, Demetrakis and
other) who used their influence over the council of Edgewater Borough to cut
corners in safety and proper construction:
buildings housing hundreds of people were built in small heavily
contaminated lots where firefighters do not have access, firewalls are omitted
or are of low quality material, light wood was used that is readily
combustible, sprinkler systems are not maintained or tested for functionality, and
so on. These are some of the reasons
that the entire Avalon of Edgewater development went up in smoke in such a small
amount of time.
A five-alarm blaze swept
through a luxury New Jersey apartment complex Wednesday evening, forcing
hundreds to evacuate and sending plumes of smoke thousands of feet into the sky
above the Hudson River.
Firefighters struggled
for hours to quench the flames at the Avalon on the Hudson at 102 Russell Ave.
in Edgewater, 15 years after an earlier blaze burned the same complex to the
ground as it was being built.
"We left in what we
had," evacuated resident Tamara Talbott said. "We got the kids and
the dogs. Our cars are all underneath. There's nothing left.”
The fire was mostly
contained by Wednesday night, with no loss of life or major injuries reported,
according to McPartland.
Edgewater Mayor Michael
McPartland has declared a local state of emergency, announcing schools will be
closed Thursday and roads will be restricted.
The fire broke out around
4:30 p.m., and the 175-unit building was quickly evacuated. After firefighters
first responded, the fire appeared under control for some time, but it
escalated in the back part of the complex, which responders had a hard time
accessing.
The blaze then spread to
the northern section of the building, engulfing multiple units. Flames and
smoke could be seen from the top of Rockefeller Center, across the Hudson
River.
The fire drew a massive
mutual aid response, with departments from Hudson, Bergen and Union counties
responding. The FDNY and Jersey City's fire department also responded with
fireboats, helping to draw water from the Hudson River, officials said.
Tankers and engines
attempted to fight the blaze from the exterior, and collapse zones were set up
around the complex as the blaze tore down roofs.
Thick plumes of smoke
from the fire sent Chopper 4 over the scene to double its normal altitude --
from about 1,500 feet to 3,000 feet.
The hillside communities
surrounding Edgewater were also being watched, as embers from the blaze were
whipped into the air.
Around 160 people are
being sheltered at a local community center with the help of the Office of
Emergency Management and Red Cross, according to the mayor.
Residents walked around
River Road in shock as they wondered how a fire could spread so quickly.
"For all the fire
doors and things we have in the building, I'm shocked that it would go from
something small to something like this," resident Talbott said.
One responding fire chief
told NBC 4 New York he thought lightweight wood construction was a factor in
how quickly the fire spread.
"It collapses very
easily, and the fire spreads very easily throughout," he said.
The large Avalon on the
Hudson apartment complex, located by the Hudson River across from Manhattan, is
across the street from the Edgewater post office, and is located across a
shopping complex that contains a Trader Joe's supermarket.
The same apartment
complex burned to the ground while it was being constructed in 2000. It was
rebuilt featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom units designed to appeal to New
York City commuters.
McPartland said the
building had sprinklers inside. Yet, the condition of the fire fighting
system is questionable
Power and gas were shut
off to the area as firefighters responded; some streets and buildings were
still without power Wednesday night, and officials were expected to assess
safety before allowing utilities to restore electricity.