PARK RIDGE, N.J.—Four firefighters were slightly injured, then treated on scene, battling a two-alarm blaze at the former Sony campus on Saturday March 13, just around 2 p.m.
In all, six departments from the surrounding area responded to assist. The fire, intensified by high winds, was controlled within an hour, and fire crews stayed on the scene for nearly four hours.
That’s according to Park Ridge Fire Chief Tom Lepore, who also said the four firefighters were treated by emergency service workers at the site.
Lepore said he helped coordinate the rescue of a worker trapped on a nearby rooftop.
“There was nothing suspicious about the fire. It happened accidentally due to demolition,” Lepore said.
He said the fire spread from one of three rooftop mechanical pods to the floor below in the four-story building, which a crew was tearing down to make way for hundreds of new housing units on the campus, at 1 Sony Dr., just off the Garden State Parkway.
Sony moved its North American electronics division headquarters to San Diego in 2004, keeping space for some operations at the 220,887-square-foot Park Ridge facility before selling to Paramus-based Hornrock Properties in 2015 for a reported $16.8 million.
Faced with the prospect of builder’s lawsuits that could add hundreds more market-rate and affordable units in the borough—on the former Sony property and elsewhere—the Borough Council recently approved a settlement agreement that permits 448 housing units, including 68 affordable units, on the 30-acre former Sony campus.
Photos Lepore’s department posted in the aftermath of the fire showed firefighters battling down intense heat and thick dark smoke that skirled into a crisp blue sky.
“We wrapped up pretty quickly because we used the master streams since there was a large amount of fire visible on arrival,” Lepore said.
He said firefighters drilled into the fourth floor of the building to locate the fire and that the blaze started accidentally as contractors worked to demolish the building.
Following debriefing, Lepore said a passerby called Northwest Bergen Central Dispatch and reported seeing flames and smoke coming from the vacant office building. The Park Ridge Police Department arrived and confirmed that there was a fire in the building and that there were workers on scene preparing the building for demolition.
Lepore said he arrived on scene and transmitted a second alarm. He said that on his arrival he located a worker on the roof adjacent to the fire and began to coordinate his removal by the incoming fire companies.
“The man made his way through an unaffected area of the building and was located safely outside and Chief Lepore confirmed that all the other workers had safely exited the building,” the PRFD said.
Incoming fire companies stretched hose lines to the third-floor utility room and extinguished the fire. After the fire was extinguished, crews conducted extensive overhaul operations and checked the numerous void spaces on the fire floor for hidden areas of fire, said the department.
“Once again the prompt response of our volunteer firefighters and our mutual aid partners brought this difficult fire under control quickly. The firefighters on scene were faced with numerous hazards in this building which is in the early stages of the demolition process,” Lepore said.
He added, “After a brief initial exterior attack, firefighters aggressively entered the building and advanced to the seat of the fire on the third floor.”
Lepore said that in addition to hazards within the building, windy conditions made the fire intensify quickly.
“Thankfully, no one was seriously injured battling this fire,” he said.
Lepore thanked the following responding agencies for their assistance: Park Ridge Police Department, Woodcliff Lake Fire Department, Montvale Volunteer Fire Department, Tri-Boro Volunteer Ambulance Corps, River Vale Fire Department, Westwood Volunteer Fire Department, Old Tappan Volunteer Fire Department, Saddle River Fire Department, Hillsdale Volunteer Fire Department, and Pearl River Fire Department.