Paterson NJ G/A+ 372-374-376 Totowa Ave, 04-20-14

At around 09:40 hours on Easter Sunday, April 20th, 2014, Paterson NJ Fire Dept received a verbal alarm from a battalion chief who was on the road reporting a building fire in the area of Totowa Ave and Wayne Ave, a 2nd alarm was requested by the BC before the 1st alarm companies were dispatched due to heavy fire in the rear of a large 3 story frame mixed use building with fire already in one exposure, spreading to a 3rd and reports of victims trapped. Heavy smoke was visible for miles as companies arrived and started an aggressive interior attack. With heavy fire on all 3 floors of 2 of the buildings and heavy fire now in the third, a 3rd alarm was requested and companies were withdrawn from all 3 buildings and went to an exterior attack. The fire eventually burned through the roof of all 3 buildings located at 372, 374 and 376 Totowa Ave. but no other structures were damaged. All visible fire was knocked down by 13:15 but due to numerous collapses, fire conditions remained deep seated in the rubble and eventually a demolition crew was brought later in the evening to raze the buildings and allow firefighters to extinguish the remaining fire. Two firefighters along with one occupant were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, over 100 firefighters from Paterson and surrounding towns fought the fire, the cause is under investigation.