Squatter Accidentally Starts Fire in Abandoned Building While Cooking Soup

A homeless man accidentally started a fire while cooking soup in an abandoned downtown building on Saturday morning, where he allegedly had been living for five years, police said.

Around 10:20 a.m. on Saturday, Hoboken's police and fire departments responded to a fire at 515 Newark St., according to the report.

When a police officer and a fire fighter entered the building, they found the building's resident, a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant, hiding behind a stack of old wooden pallets on the ground floor, according to reports. 

The man told Hoboken police that he had occupied the space for the last five years, reports said. He also told police he was cooking soup when he went upstairs and forgot all about the food, according to police reports.

The building is brick, four stories tall and has a commercial space on the ground floor.The five entries to the building were left unsecure, according to police.

A room with a closet full of clothes "neatly hung up" and several pairs of black shoes was found on the second floor of the building, according to the police report. They also found "a highly polished cot," a made bed and a shelf system with the resident's belongings, according to the police report.

The resident was taken to the fire house on Observer Highway, where he refused medical attention. The owner of the building did not file a complaint against the homeless man, according to reports, on the condition that the man would move out immediately.

The homeless man refused any help with finding a new place to live, police said. Because the fire appeared to be accidental, the man was not charged with anything.

According to the police report, "it was obvious that the person was very neat and had been living there for a while."