Arson Squad Investigating 4-Alarm Jersey City Heights Fire: Prosecutor (UPDATE)

JERSEY CITY, NJ — The county Arson Squad is probing a four-alarm fire in Jersey City Heights that displaced 26 people late on Friday night, prosecutors said.

The Jersey City Fire Department was notified just before 11 p.m. of a fire at 3507 Kennedy Boulevard, said the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

Firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from the building, prosecutors said. The fire is believed to have started in a ground level business. It spread quickly to apartments nearby, prosecutors said.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated at Jersey City Medical Center, prosecutors said.

The fire, which came amid a weeks-long drought, could be smelled throughout the area.

The cause remains under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Prosecutor’s Office at 201-915-1345 or to leave a tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.

Earlier Reporting

Amid a weeks-long drought in New Jersey, a four-alarm fire burned late on Friday night in Jersey City Heights, displacing residents, according to a councilman.

Councilman Yousef Saleh posted on social media around midnight that there were no injuries in the blaze near 3507 Kennedy Blvd., at the corner of South Street.

He said officials were waiting for the Red Cross to come help the families.

On a windy night, the fire could be smelled in downtown Jersey City and down the hill in Hoboken.

After weeks without rain, several fires burned in both North and South Jersey on Friday, including a blaze that engulfed 39 acres in the Palisades hills in Bergen County.