Approximately a half dozen people were left homeless in Irvington on Nov. 23 after firefighters spent most of their afternoon battling a stubborn, smoky blaze that had crews rotating in and out of the structure chasing fire in void spaces.
The Irvington Fire Department was dispatched around 12:00 p.m. to the area of Springfield Ave. and Grove St. for a report of smoke in the area, possibly coming from a Popeye’s Chicken restaurant. Upon arrival, firefighters found smoke coming from a large 2 1/2-story wood-frame dwelling directly to the rear of the restaurant.
A water supply was established from Springfield Ave. and two handlines were placed in operation to conduct an interior attack. Suppression crews found fire on the second floor in the rear of the house with possible extension to the upper floor. The main body of fire on the second floor was darkened quickly, but there was evidence of extension into the walls due to the volume of smoke emanating from the structure. Once the second floor fire was knocked, the interior crew reported possible fire on the first floor. Additional hand lines were stretched to all floors as the fire was traveling the interior and exterior walls. The walls and ceilings were opened up and ventilation holes were made in the roof to expose the spreading flames.
Heavy fire started to show from the rear of the third floor around 12:20 p.m., forcing the roof crew to abandon their position, but interior crews continued an aggressive attack and knocked down the flames with hand lines. Several hand lines continued to operate on the second and third floors as the walls and ceilings were opened. All visible fire was extinguished by 1:15 p.m., but firefighters continued extensive overhaul and hit remaining hot spots.
The fire was declared under control at approximately 1:45 p.m. There were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported at the scene. The Red Cross was notified to assist the displaced occupants with finding shelter.
Mutual aid fire departments from Maplewood, Orange, Millburn, Newark and Montclair assisted at the scene, while other surrounding departments covered the town during the incident.
The fire is being investigated by Irvington fire officials.
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