Fair 34°
Police & Fire
CONDO FIRE: Mahwah Resident, 52, Fell Asleep On Couch With Lit Cigarette, Police Say CONDO FIRE: Mahwah Resident, 52, Fell Asleep On Couch With Lit Cigarette, Police Say
Condo Fire: Mahwah Resident, 52, Fell Asleep On Couch With Lit Cigarette, Police Say A Mahwah condo resident was hospitalized with minor injuries after he fell asleep on a couch with a lighted cigarette that ignited a smoky fire, authorities said. Officers and firefighters found smoke pouring from the rear window of a Hemingway Lane residence in the Ridge Gardens Condominiums complex just after 4 a.m., Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said. Firefighters found the 52-year-old victim unconscious on the still-smoldering couch in a rear room of the ground-floor apartment, Jaffe said. They carried him outside to safety with help from Officer Thomas Mitchell, the chief said. Sprinkl…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CONDO FIRE: Mahwah Resident, 52, Fell Asleep On Couch With Lit Cigarette, Police Say CONDO FIRE: Mahwah Resident, 52, Fell Asleep On Couch With Lit Cigarette, Police Say
Condo Fire: Mahwah Resident, 52, Fell Asleep On Couch With Lit Cigarette, Police Say A Mahwah condo resident was hospitalized with minor injuries after he fell asleep on a couch with a lighted cigarette that ignited a smoky fire, authorities said. Officers and firefighters found smoke pouring from the rear window of a Hemingway Lane residence in the Ridge Gardens Condominiums complex just after 4 a.m., Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said.Firefighters found the 52-year-old victim unconscious on the still-smoldering couch in a rear room of the ground-floor apartment, Jaffe said.They carried him outside to safety with help from Officer Thomas Mitchell, the chief said. Sp…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Following 2nd Fire At Kearny Chlorine Plant, Sierra Club Calls For Investigation Following 2nd Fire At Kearny Chlorine Plant, Sierra Club Calls For Investigation
Following 2nd Fire At Kearny Chlorine Plant, Sierra Club Calls For Investigation A fire that broke out at a Kearny manufacturer of swimming pool chlorine in May proved unusually difficult to extinguish, repeatedly rekindling over the course of several hours after firefighters thought it had darkened down for good. On Wednesday, nearly two months after the fire had finally been put out, the Alden Leeds plant on Kearny’s industrial waterfront was burning once again. The more recent blaze was quickly put out and had not flared back to life as of Thursday afternoon, but the state’s leading environmental group says this second fire since May underscores the danger the pla…

SHARE

by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Overnight Fire Damages Waldwick Pizza, Fills Adjacent Businesses With Smoke Overnight Fire Damages Waldwick Pizza, Fills Adjacent Businesses With Smoke
Overnight Fire Damages Waldwick Pizza, Fills Adjacent Businesses With Smoke Sprinklers at a Waldwick pizzeria kept a blaze at bay until borough firefighters could douse it around midnight Monday, authorities said. Smoke poured through Waldwick Pizza, as well as the adjacent Waldwick Bar and Liquors, Waldwick Wash and Dry and Giant Farmers Market on Wyckoff Avenue. Firefighters forced open the pizzeria's rear door to get at the flames, which were tamped by sprinklers. A second alarm brought additional manpower to the smoky blaze. No injuries were reported.  Borough Police Officer Jake Wanamaker was on patrol when he heard the alarm, saw the fire and al…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Englewood Responders Guide Youngsters At Church Bicycle Safety Event Englewood Responders Guide Youngsters At Church Bicycle Safety Event
Englewood Responders Guide Youngsters At Church Bicycle Safety Event Englewood police instructed and guided youngsters and teens in bicycle safety while city firefighters gave them a chance to handle a fire hose during an event hosted Saturday by Community Baptist Church. Police Sgt. Oscar Hernandez (Bicycle Squad) and Officers Adolfo Gutierrez (Emergency Services Unit) and Jerel Hammond (Motorcycle Patrol) offered their expertise at the event, arranged by Brian Osborne and also attended by church staff and congregants. City Fire Capt. Michael Johnston and Firemen William Loaiza and John Herrmann brought a fire truck and supervised kids using the hose. Repr…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Overnight Fire Severely Damages Lyndhurst Home Overnight Fire Severely Damages Lyndhurst Home
Overnight Fire Severely Damages Lyndhurst Home The first-floor residents of a Lyndhurst house being renovated made it to safety without injury overnight Tuesday after a fire broke out upstairs. Investigators suspect oil-soaked rags improperly discarded by contractors staining the upper residence’s floors might be responsible for the Summit Avenue blaze, Police Detective Sgt. Vincent Auteri said. All three adult residents downstairs got out OK after the sound of glass breaking from the flames woke one of them just after 1:45 a.m., he said. “The second floor was vacant and under renovation,” Auteri said. “A contractor was on the premises…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fire Ravages Clutter-Filled Teaneck Home Fire Ravages Clutter-Filled Teaneck Home
Fire Ravages Clutter-Filled Teaneck Home Flames roared through the upper-floor windows of a Teaneck home that responders said was filled with clutter. No injuries were reported in the two-alarm Beverly Road blaze, which broke out around 10:30 p.m. Friday amid what responders said were hoarding conditions. Hackensack and Englewood firefighters joined their Teaneck colleagues at the scene, while those from Bergenfield, Bogota and Ridgefield Park covered the township. No immediate official cause had been disclosed.

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ramsey Firefighters Contain Pre-Dawn Garage Blaze Ramsey Firefighters Contain Pre-Dawn Garage Blaze
Ramsey Firefighters Contain Pre-Dawn Garage Blaze Ramsey firefighters contained a pre-dawn attached garage blaze Tuesday before it extended into the home. The Elbert Street house sustained some smoke damage after firefighters pulled down the wall and ceiling of an adjoining bathroom to be sure the flames hadn't spread. No one was hurt in the 5:30 a.m. two-alarm blaze, which responders said was doused in a half hour or so. The cause hadn't officially been declared. Allendale and Mahwah firefighters joined their Ramsey colleagues, who included Ramsey Rescue. Borough police and EMS also responded. It was the second working fire in a little…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Mother's Memorial Candles Fuel Fire At Daughter's Saddle Brook Gravesite Mother's Memorial Candles Fuel Fire At Daughter's Saddle Brook Gravesite
Mother's Memorial Candles Fuel Fire At Daughter's Saddle Brook Gravesite A fire that ravaged a gravesite in Saddle Brook on Wednesday apparently was ignited by candles left by the deceased’s mother, authorities said. Township volunteer firefighters and maintenance workers at St. Mary’s Cemetery doused the blaze, which destroyed several items left by the woman as a memorial to her daughter, Police Chief Robert Kugler said. At least one of several lighted candles surrounding the grave “may have broken open, spilling hot wax onto the leaves, flowers and other memorial artifacts left at the grave,” Kugler said. The woman “often visits” the gravesite, he said. …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Discarded Cigarette Ignited Fire That Ravaged River Vale Home, Responders Say Discarded Cigarette Ignited Fire That Ravaged River Vale Home, Responders Say
Discarded Cigarette Ignited Fire That Ravaged River Vale Home, Responders Say UPDATE: A smoldering cigarette discarded in a planter ignited a fire that blew through the roof of a River Vale home last week, authorities said. A resident of the Pascack Avenue home "was smoking a cigarette outside hours earlier," a law enforcement contact with direct knowledge of the incident told Daily Voice. "She put it out in a planter and it smoldered for hours until it ignited." Two dogs were rescued from the 2½-story home near the Harrington Park border after the fire broke out the night of Feb. 13, authorities said. No one else was inside, they said. Responders included firefigh…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Mahwah Family Loses Everything In Fire Mahwah Family Loses Everything In Fire
Mahwah Family Loses Everything In Fire UPDATE: A Mahwah family of four lost just about all of their belongings in a morning fire. Anthony Covello sustained a minor burn on his hand and his wife, Kari, was treated for smoke inhalation from the Oweno Place fire, which broke out in a small boiler room around 7 a.m., authorities said. Township police Township Officers Keith Iorio and Rob Birney got the couple and their two children out of the house and to a neighbor’s home, then turned extinguishers on the blaze, Police Chief James N. Batelli said. Unfortunately, "the flames quickly spread throughout the house,” Batelli said. “Th…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Special Needs Students OK After School Van Catches Fire In Glen Rock Special Needs Students OK After School Van Catches Fire In Glen Rock
Special Needs Students OK After School Van Catches Fire In Glen Rock UPDATE: Two special needs students and three workers were safely removed to a nearby store after a school van caught fire Thursday afternoon in Glen Rock.  Fair Lawn and Glen Rock firefighters doused the blaze outside an office building on Harristown Road near the northbound Route 208 exit ramp to South Maple Avenue, borough Police Sgt. Bryan Scott said. The driver had pulled into the safe spot and got everyone off after spotting smoke coming from the engine compartment, Scott said. Children were safely removed to a nearby store.Boyd A. Loving Also responding were Glen Rock and Fair La…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco