Story/Photos by Christian M. Fink
On Wednesday, August 23 Jersey City firefighters battled a three-alarm fire
involving three buildings on Martin Luther King Drive in the Greenville
section
of the city.
At 14:15 hours, with 911 phone lines ringing in the background, Jersey City
Fire Dispatch Center transmitted Box 705 for a reported fire in the area of
161
Martin Luther King Drive.
Assigned on the box were Engines 8, 17, 19 and 22;
Ladders 8 and 11; Battalion 2; and Rescue Co. 1.
Deputy 1, not ordinarily
assigned on the initial alarm began responding when Fire Dispatch notified
companies they were receiving multiple calls and reports of jumpers.
Engine
Company 22 arrived within minutes and reported heavy smoke showing. The
"working fire" box was filled out bringing Squad 4, Ladder 9 as the FAST
company, Mask Service Unit, Safety Officer, and Deputy 1 who was already
enroute.
Companies found heavy fire on the top floor of an occupied three-story brick
mixed occupancy building which was commercial on the ground floor with
apartments above.
Fire was already extending into exposures B (2) and D (4),
which were nearly identical structures, via the common cockloft. With reports
of civilians trapped, later determined to be unfounded, firefighters began
searches
and initiated an aggressive interior attack, stretching lines to the fire
building and
into the exposures.
Conditions began to rapidly deteriorate and Battalion 2
requested a second alarm. The second-alarm, transmitted at 14:19 hours,
brought
Engines 9, 10, and 13; Ladder 12, and Battalion 4.
As companies continued to battle the blaze they made little progress. Outside
temperatures were in the high 80's and companies were taking a beating.
Deputy 1A,
Firefighter Steve Rykola, requested a third alarm by orders of Deputy 1,
Chief Thomas
Kearney. The third alarm was transmitted at 14:24 hours and brought Engines
15 and 5;
and Ladder 7.
After a long battle the fire was declared under control at 15:14 hours. In
all, 9 engines,
7 ladders, one specialized engine company, one heavy rescue company, and
several
special units operated at the fire.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries
and were placed
off-duty following treatment at the Jersey City Medical Center.
Firefighters were hampered by an extremely large air shaft located in the
fire building on
the exposure B (2) side and feel this played a major part in the rapid spread
of the fire.
The fire remains under investigation.
