By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 26, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B03
A fire that raged through a perfume warehouse on Paterson Plank Road on Tuesday destroyed two adjacent residential buildings and forced the evacuation of about 15 buildings on the block.
No one was injured, and authorities were investigating the cause of the fire, which was reported about 3:20 p.m., North Bergen Detective William Solan said. Apartment buildings on the 1100 block of Paterson Plank Road and buildings on 11th Street, downwind from the fire, were evacuated immediately, North Bergen police Sgt. Boze Bozicevic said.
Tears streaked down Virgin Minna’s cheeks as firefighters pumped water through her bedroom window, trying to put out the stubborn fire. Minna, 33, lived in an upstairs apartment at 1108 Paterson Plank Road with her husband and two children. The fire spread to her home from La Cibeles Inc., a warehouse at 1110 Paterson Plank Road.
Kathy Vargas, 29, of 1102 Paterson Plank Road, said she went into her neighbors house when her daughter told her she smelled smoke.
“I walked out and the street was filled with smoke,” Vargas said. “The flames were shooting above the roof of the building next to us.”
She went next door and got Luz Guzman and her three young daughters and Minna’s 13-year-old son, Hilton, out of the house. Hilton said he smelled the smoke and was checking around the apartment when Vargas came knocking and told him of the fire next door.
Four employees were working in the warehouse at the time the fire started, but they were not injured, he said.
North Bergen firefighters were assisted by the Union City, Jersey City, and Weehawken fire departments.
People who were evacuated from dwellings because of dense smoke near the warehouse were sent to the nearby John F. Kennedy School. By Tuesday evening, they still had not been allowed to return home, and Red Cross representatives were working to arrange temporary shelter.
Caption: Firefighters dousing buildings ignited by a fire in a perfume warehouse on Paterson Plank Road in North Bergen on Tuesday. PHOTO – ED HILL/THE RECORD
ID: 17369768 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)
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