Multiple NJ Departments Tackle 5-Alarm Fire at Row of Stores

A five-alarm fire in Bergenfield remained under investigation Sunday, a day after 125 firefighters from a dozen towns responded to the blaze at a row of stores, a fire official said.

The businesses, located in a century-old downtown structure, were unoccupied at the time of the Saturday afternoon fire. No firefighters were injured despite heavy smoke and difficulty battling the blaze due to three layers of ceilings in the single-story structure, said Christopher Naylis, a Bergenfield Fire Department spokesperson.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at 1:45 p.m. Saturday by an alarm from one of the four businesses that share the L-shaped brick building at the corner of South Washington and Bedford Avenues in Bergenfield’s commercial district, Naylis said.

He said it took 80 minutes to bring the fire under control, drawing units from Dumont, Tenafly, Demarest, Englewood, Teaneck, New Milford, Ridgefield Park, Bogota, and Hackensack, to help battle the blaze, backed up by River Edge, Cresskill and Harwood in the event of another fire at the same time.

Arriving firefighters were confronted by heavy smoke and fire coming from the roof on the South Washington Avenue side of the building, which is shared by a jewelry store that was closed at the time, and a former juice bar that’s now being converted to a cigar lounge and has not opened yet, Naylis said.

“It was complete blackout conditions, thermal imaging cameras were used to fight the fire,” Naylis said. “It had a lot of potential to cause some injuries, and thank God those stores were vacant at the time.”

The two restaurants on the Bedford Avenue side of the building were lightly damaged, Naylis said.

Naylis estimated the building dates back to the early 1900s, when that area of Bergenfield’s downtown was developed.

“The fire department did a great job getting in there, stopping it,” he said. “That type of fire had the potential to take that entire block.”

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