Below-freezing temperatures and high winds are never a good combination for firefighting. The members of the North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue (NJ) had to deal with these conditions on the afternoon of January 7, 2025. The regional department covers the municipalities of Union City, North Bergen, West New York, Weehawken, and Guttenberg.
Just after 2:30 p.m., dispatch reported a fire on 68th Street in Guttenberg, with the dispatcher citing “numerous phone calls.” Units responding reported “smoke in the area.”
A fire involved the rear deck of a large, three-to-one story, wood-frame dwelling. Heavy fire and smoke were showing, and a crews transmitted a second alarm.
The flames quickly extended to the “A” side of the structure, with fire venting out windows on the “B” side where there was a parking lot. Flames then vented out of upper windows on the “A” side and then through the roof. A third alarm was transmitted.
Firefighters placed numerous handlines into operation, and raised Ladder 4’s aerial to exposure “D.” This was a three-story ordinary dwelling separated by a narrow alley space. Crews employed handlines on the ground and roof to prevent extension into this structure.
Firefighters used handlines inside the fire building and from the one-story rear extension roof to quell flames. Fire dominated the walls and ceiling as firefighters used their tools to “open up.”
During the fire, the local public works personnel dropped melting pellets on the street and sidewalks for everyone’s safety.
It took several hours to make sure the labor intensive fire was “probably will hold” with the third-alarm assignment.
The Jersey City Gong Club rehab unit was on the scene to assist the cold and exhausted firefighters as conditions began to improve. No occupants of the building were reported injured.