|
WESTWOOD FIRE FATAL TO FIREMAN
The Bergen Record
April 13, 1977
By Larry Chollet
A volunteer fireman died and more than 25
persons were felled by heat and smoke from a fire at an abandoned Westwood
coal and lumber warehouse yesterday afternoon.
James C. Voorhis, 43, of Westwood, was
pronounced dead at Pascack Valley Hospital.
Voorhis had left the fire at the former
Comfort Coal and Lumber Co., apparently either to take a rest or receive
treatment for smoke inhalation, when he collapsed near a fire truck. An
autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death, police said.
Police suspect that juveniles set the two-hour
blaze, which broke out at 3:15 p.m. on the first floor and consumed the
vacant two-story warehouse at the corner of Broadway and Irvington Street.
Police declined to say whether they had taken anyone into custody.
The fire sent flames 40 feet and wind blew the
thick, grayish smoke and black ashes over downtown Westwood.
"It was an inferno," said Chuck Betheil, who
left his store on Westwood Ave. to see the blaze. "First the roof caught
on fire, then the whole building went up in flames."
"The smoke was so intense you couldn't see
more than 10 feet at times," said Bob Kosch, a salesman for Westwood
Lincoln-Mercury.
At times all that was visible were the
flashing red and blue lights of fire trucks and ambulances.
A gas station and a store across from the
burning warehouse were doused with water to prevent the fire from
spreading. But while firemen from Westwood, River Vale, Washington
Township, and Hillsdale fought the blaze, sparks ignited another fire in
the basement of What Ale's Ya, a restaurant a few hundred yards away on
Broadway.
The Emerson Fire Department was called to put
out the second fire, which lasted 20 minutes as it charred the basement
ceiling beams and filled the restaurant with smoke. The restaurant had
minor structural damage.
Westwood Mayor Charles Bellon, said last night
that Voorhis, a self-employed handyman, was covered by borough insurance.
Bellon did not say how much compensation Voorhis's wife and five children
would receive.
"To lose his life for a dilapidated old
building grieves me no ened," Bellon said. He added that the council would
consider a drive to raise funds for Voorhis's family. The mayor did not
know how long Voorhis had served as a fireman.
Police said that five other firemen - four
from Westwood and one from Washington Township - were treated at the scene
for smoke inhalation and exhaustion. A Westwood fireman suffering from
smoke inhalation and another who stepped on a nail were taken to Pascack
Valley Hospital for treatment.
Members of ambulance corps from Hillsdale and
Washington Township said they treated about 20 spectators who were
overcome by heat and smoke. The Westwood ambulance corps also attended to
numerous people overcome by smoke.
The main fire was confined to the vacant
warehouse. Police had no estimate on damages. The company, owned by
Fredrick Brickmann of Oradell, closed in 1974 for lack of business.
The 7.5 acre warehouse site has been the
subject of controversy for five years. After the Planning Board denied
approval for a Pathmark shopping mall a few years ago, the state
Department of Transportation had planned to build a park-ride station on
the site. The state dropped the plans in February, but the board has
designated it as a possible site for senior citizen housing.
The fire caused traffic jams along Westwood
Avenue and Broadway for about 2.5 hours. About 800 residents were also
left without electricity, which had been turned off to protect firemen.
A block away on Westwood Avenue, Paul Hanlon,
owner of Westwood Pharmacy, said he could feel the heat from the fire
inside his store. He added that the smoke at times obscured the stores
across the street.
|
