Montclair Fire Department Responds To Five-Alarm Fire In Orange That Displaces At Least 100 Residents

An early morning fire Sunday on Lincoln Avenue in Orange has displaced at least a hundred residents as firefighters battled the five-alarm blaze for more than eight hours. 

The fire began on an upper floor of a five-story, H-shaped apartment building at 399 Lincoln Ave., shortly before 8 a.m., according to fire department personnel on the scene. The fire then spread to various floors throughout the building. 

The roof of the 95-unit building collapsed in the mid-afternoon, causing the fire to spread to other corners of the building, firefighters on scene said. 

Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins Jr. said cots will be set up at the nearby Orange High School gym, with the help of the American Red Cross, for any residents without friends or family with a place to stay. Hawkins said the school would not close down Monday. Depending on the number of residents in need of shelter, though, he said the gym may be closed to students.

Hawkins said the cause of the fire was not yet determined and no injuries had been reported. 

Orange officials said an arson team would arrive to the scene later Sunday to investigate the cause of the fire, which is not yet known.  

"With a large incident like this, people are shaken up, they're emotionally distraught and there may have been some people transported with minor injuries of stress, but we have no major reports of residents being injured or firefighters at this time," said Hawkins.

As firefighters fought to extinguish the flames visible from the street, residents and other onlookers watched from a vacant lot. Many took photos, while others clutched rosaries.

Maria Torres, who said she was a resident of the building, said, "There's nothing to do but pray."

Mary Toussaint, a resident of the building, said she was sleeping when the fire started.

"We were sleeping and then the fire alarm went off and then everybody tried to get out," she said.

Michelle Toussaint, a resident who lives on the first floor said she's lost everything.

"I don't have nothing, I don't even have a job now," she said.

Mary Toussaint said of Michelle: "She wanna cry but she don't wanna cry. No money, no job, no nothing."

Firefighters utilized hydrants from Scotland Road, one block downhill from the fire. Water pressure started to decrease by mid-afternoon and Bloomfield firefighters on scene said fire trucks were set up along the road to increase the pressure as the water traveled up the hill.

"The rain ain't helping," murmured Terence Mitchell, an onlooker. Firefighters on scene said rain doesn't help a fire of this intensity.

Belleville, Caldwell, East Orange, Fairfield, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair, Newark, Orange and West Orange fire departments and rescue personnel responded to the fire, which, as of 5 p.m., was under control, according to Orange officials.

Firefighters on scene said the building will sustain "severe" water damage due to the massive amounts of water used by departments to battle the blaze. Firefighters also will conduct sweeps of the building to determine whether the structure is safe before residents are allowed to return.

Numerous streets were closed east of Scotland Road, which snarled traffic. Plumes of smoke were visible in many parts of Orange and neighboring communities, including West Orange and South Orange.

West Orange resident Jennifer Maidenberg, who lives on Gregory Avenue, said the smoke was thick as she was driving on Scotland Road around 10:30 a.m.

"I could smell the smoke from the outside then there was a thick cloud of smoke," she said. "It was very clear there was a big fire."

Maidenberg said once she got home she could still smell the smoke outside her house.

A representative from PSEG said the company shut down the building's gas shortly after 2:30 p.m. 

The Salvation Army arrived around 2:30 p.m. to provide food and beverages to stranded residents. 

"We came out to provide whatever services the people need. Right now, we brought some water with us and we're getting coffee and food is coming just so that we can provide the immediate needs," said Capt. Forrest Lanchester, of the Salvation Army. "Whatever we have to do, we're going to provide for them. It's not a good situation, there's a lot of people that are going to be homeless and that's not a good situation in any way shape form or fashion. They've lost everything."