WESTWOOD, N.J.—A fire in The Roxbury condominium complex on Fairview Avenue in Westwood June 7 was contained by fire departments responding from multiple towns including Westwood, Woodcliff Lake, River Vale, Hillsdale, Emerson and Park Ridge.
Westwood Fire Chief Kevin Woods said the fire apparently began in one unit’s kitchen due to a pot left on the stove by a tenant.
“The kitchen fire was extinguished very quickly,” Chief Woods told Pascack Press, who said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Woods said the fire scene showed signs of “hoarding conditions” and that a lot of smoke permeated condominiums at 550 Fairview, where the fire occurred, and at 540 Fairview Avenue.
He said the first call of a fire was received at 11:12 a.m. and firefighters from Westwood and surrounding towns were on scene for over an hour.
Woods said two Westwood firefighters suffered minor injuries, one a scraped hand requiring stitches and another suffered heat exhaustion.
Pascack Press saw two ladder trucks—from Emerson and Hillsdale—suspended over the roof lines of 540 and 550 Fairview Avenues with nozzles pointing at roofs.
Some residents who had been evacuated said the fire appeared to involve one or two condominiums on the first floor of 550 Fairview Avenue.
An automated phone call received by the Pascack Press office in Westwood at 3 p.m. reported that 35 condominium units sustained damage to door locks due to firefighters having to enter the units for public safety and make sure the fire was out.
The call said door locks were being repaired by a contractor and all common areas were being remediated by crews. And owners of units sustaining smoke or other damage were directed to contact their insurance companies, said the call.
The call said door locks were being repaired by a contractor and all common areas were being remediated by crews. And owners of units sustaining smoke or other damage were directed to contact their insurance companies, said the call.
Condominium residents on the street said fire and smoke was pouring from the first-floor windows when the blaze first ignited, approximately 11:00 a.m. according to witnesses congregating on Fairview Avenue.
Several complex residents pointed to smashed-out, blackened windows on the 550 building and said that’s where the fire started.
This article was updated after to include information from the regarding the automated phone call Pascack Press received.
