JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) — A fire that began in a basement garage in Jersey City on Thursday sent thick black smoke through the night sky, spread through two buildings on Stegman Street and displaced multiple families, fire officials said.<\/p>\n
The fire started around 5:30 p.m. and climbed three floors before breaking through the roof, according to fire officials.<\/p>\n
About 80 firefighters, assisted by Bayonne crews, responded to the scene. The blaze took approximately 90 minutes to bring under control.<\/p>\n
Residents described seeing heavy smoke as the fire spread.<\/p>\n
“All black. Just poof. Just like that,” resident Imani Yasin said.<\/p>\n
A resident named Jay said, “it looked like it was some type of warehouse fire you know where you see the thick black smoke throughout the clouds.”<\/p>\n
Inside one of the burning buildings were a 12-year-old boy, his 1-year-old sister and their grandmother.<\/p>\n
“I thought she was cooking something because I didn’t see anything behind me, but when I looked behind me, I saw smoke coming from the vent,” resident Jair Alaye said.<\/p>\n
Alaye called his mother while helping his sister and grandmother escape.<\/p>\n
“He was crying. He was scared, like ‘mommy the house is burning, the house is burning.’ I’m just glad they made it out safe,” resident Maria Elachiluisa said.<\/p>\n
Elachiluisa said the fire prompted her to leave work and rush to the scene.<\/p>\n
“Scary. I had to leave my job and just drive out trying to get there. I had to park my car five blocks away from here and then I came running,” she said.<\/p>\n
Fire Chief Jack Johnson said difficult weather conditions challenged crews during the response.<\/p>\n
“The humidity and the weather really took a toll on the first arriving, first companies, and they were pretty much beat after the first 30 minutes so that’s why we extended it to a third fourth and fifth alarm for relief purposes,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Johnson said the fire spread through concealed spaces, making it difficult to extinguish.<\/p>\n
“The reason it took so long was because it was in all the walls of both buildings and then I got up into the roof area, which is extensive extra work for us to take all that apart,” he said.<\/p>\n
Six firefighters suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation, officials said. The grandmother who escaped the building was also taken to a hospital with minor injuries.<\/p>\n
A total of 15 residents from four families living in the two buildings were displaced.<\/p>\n
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.<\/p>\n
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