Massive Fire Causes 4 Buildings to Collapse in New Jersey

A massive fire engulfed buildings in the business district of the New Jersey town of Dover, causing four of them to collapse.

Firefighters managed to subdue the fire by the evening of Monday, Oct. 22, according to officials cited by ABC7, but early Tuesday crews were still dealing with several hot spots.

Dover Public Safety Director Daniel DeGroot told reporters the blaze was reported just after 3:30 p.m. on Monday after smoke was spotted in the basement of Barry’s Luncheonette, said Fox5 NY. The town of Dover is located about 30 miles west of New York City.

The fire quickly spread to surrounding buildings.

Businesses and residents were evacuated, and officials said there were no reports of any injuries.

More than 100 people were displaced and at least six businesses were destroyed, according to reports.

People Displaced and Businesses Lost

“In my tenure here this is the worst I’ve seen,” Town Administrator Don Travisano said, according to northjersey.com. “It’s a nightmare thinking of a fire, because the buildings are old and close together.”

“This is a major structure fire,” said Dover Mayor James Dodd as crews battled the blaze on Monday, according to ABC7. “It’s a very difficult fire that they’re fighting now, the buildings are old. They’re doing the best they can right now to bring the fire under control.”

Flames could be seen shooting from the roof and smoke billowed, as firefighters directed multiple streams of water at the fire.

Witness Alma Iris Rios told northjersey.com reporters she was driving in the area and noticed the commotion. She said she stopped her car to get a closer look.

“That’s when I saw the flames shooting through the roof,” Rios said.

“It’s very very difficult, it’s very unfortunate,” said Dodd. “It’s devastating to the people that are losing their homes, that’s our concern, and our local businesses, and we’re going to do everything we can to help those people who were displaced.”

Fire crews from nearby towns were brought in to fight the blaze. Roads were closed to traffic.

“It seriously looks like the end of the world,” witness Andrea Audino told CBS2 reporters.

Dodd said a shelter would be set up at Sacred Heart Church for displaced families, according to northjersey.com.

Investigators found the fire was being fed by natural gas, which was shut down hours later.

Dodd said heavy equipment was being brought in so crews could enter basements or lower floors of buildings.

“We’re bringing in heavy equipment to spread debris,” the mayor said.