Orange NJ fatal 4th alarm, 197 Central Pl. 02-20-15

At just around 20:35 hours on Friday February 20th, 2015 the Orange NJ Fire Dept responded for a reported house fire at 197 Central Pl. on arrival companies encountered a heavy fire condition on the 1st and 2nd floors of the 2-1/2 story home with people trapped and several jumping out windows with burns in the rear and an urgent 2nd alarm was requested. Fire was already extending into the homes on both sides as companies made a very aggressive push into the building in an attempt to conduct searches as conditions rapidly deteriorated. A 3rd alarm was requested and command was forced to evacuate the building and order defensive operations. In brutal conditions with temperatures in the single digits and with wind chill factors below zero, companies worked to protect the exposures and knock down the fire in the original fire building so that they could re-enter it. A 4th alarm was requested as companies using 1 ladder pipe, 1 deck gun and numerous hand lines started darkening down the heavy fire and all visible fire in the exposures. By 22:50, firefighters were able to re-enter the building to conduct a search and work on overhaul, sadly the bodies of a 1 one year old boy and a 6 year old girl were soon located. No firefighter injuries were reported and the fire was placed under control at around 23:30 but companies remained on the scene through out the night, the original building was a total loss however both exposures were saved although suffering fire damage. The cause of the fire is under investigation.