PHOTOS: Firefighters put down a stubborn blaze that began in an exhaust fan and destroyed a Carlstadt pizzeria restaurant.
A Moonachie firefighter was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center to be treated for heat exhaustion responders said.
The blaze began just after 11:30 a.m. in the exhaust fan at the rear of Bella Pizza on Hackensack Avenue at the corner of Broad Street.
The exhaust had just been cleaned two weeks ago, sources with direct knowledge of the fire told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Employees tried to extinguish the fire but couldn’t, responders said.
The blaze partially extended to the exterior of the Tina Louise restaurant next door and eventually went to a fourth alarm, with a request for two engines and a ladder above the 4th-alarm assignment, they said.
A portion of the rear second floor later collapsed.
Garfield, Lodi, Little Ferry, Moonachie, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook, Wood-Ridge and Secaucus companies were among those joining Carlstadt firefighters — who already had two engines at a fully involved truck fire on the New Jersey Turnpike.
The fire was declared under control around 1:20 p.m.
Fire officials later deemed it five alarms.
The building may have to be demolished, authorities said.
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