What to Know
- Firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze in Newark early Friday that devoured four apartments; 13 people inside, mostly kids, got out safely
- Fire encompassed the entire building; flames were seen shooting out windows and through the roof of the multi-story building
- A cause of the fire is under investigation; it was the second inferno to devour a residential or mixed occupancy NJ building within hours
More than a dozen people, seven of them children, managed to escape a raging inferno as flames devoured their apartment building in Newark early Friday, clouding the entire area with smoke, authorities said.
The two-alarm fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. on the first floor of the mixed occupancy building on Sussex Avenue; more than two hours later, flames continued to rage. Fire spread to each and every floor, leaping through the roof. Chopper 4 captured dramatic video from the scene; monster flames jump from the structure as firefighters battle through giant clouds of thick, black smoke.
Fire encompassed the entire building, which has four apartments and two vacant commercial structures; flames shot out every window. Authorities say six adults and seven kids were inside the building at the time; all got out safely, though their homes appeared to have been totally destroyed.
Up to 60 firefighters were responded; none were reported injured. The cause of blaze has yet to be determined.
It was the second massive blaze to hit the Garden State in less than 24 hours. On Thursday evening, a fire broke out in a five-story co-op building that left nearly 50 apartments completely incinerated.
