On Jan. 21, residents of Avalon at Edgewater, a luxury apartment complex in Edgewater, N.J., watched in horror as their apartments and all their belongings were destroyed by a massive fire. Luckily only two residents and two firefighters sustained minor injuries, although several pets may have died in the fire.
Maintenance workers doing plumbing repairs with a blow torch in the wall of an apartment reportedly started the fire. They called their supervisor when the fire started before calling 911, and the fire quickly raged out of control.
In the immediate aftermath, people were focused on what happened and why, and whether the fire could have been prevented. Edgewater Fire Chief Tom Jacobson said that the lightweight, wooden construction of the Avalon Bay complex allowed the flames to spread so rapidly. "If it was made out of concrete and cinder block, we wouldn't have this sort of problem," he added.
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Rosalie Donlon
Rosalie Donlon is the editor in chief of ALM's insurance and tax publications, including NU Property & Casualty magazine and NU PropertyCasualty360.com. You can contact her at [email protected].
