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Two volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with relatively minor injuries from the six-alarm fire on Hudson Terrace in Fort Lee, which ignited Saturday afternoon, continued through the night and collapsed portions of the five-story brick building.
Authorities initially feared the worst when a resident was unaccounted for, Mayor Mark Sokolich said, but that tenant apparently is out of the country.
The Red Cross had put up about a dozen families at local hotels and assisted others from the 36 units, said the mayor, who was at the scene.
Investigators were trying to determine the official cause, although they believe it was accidental.
Township and Palisades Interstate Parkway police were beaten back by flames and smoke as they tried to get into the second-floor apartment where the fire broke out across from the parkway entrance/exit around 3:30 p.m.
Flames shot out the window and quickly spread to the lower and upper floors of the five-story brick building.
Thick smoke blew east across the PIP toward the Hudson River, jamming area traffic on the plus-90-degree day.
The fire was still raging several hours later as portions of the building continued to collapse.
It was declared under control around 1:25 a.m., although pockets and rekindles kept firefighters working until daylight.
Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Emerson, Englewood, Leonia, Palisades Park, Paramus and Teaneck firefighters were among the mutual aid responders either at the scene or in coverage.
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