Firefighters praised for containing 3-alarm blaze

By Stephanie Akin
Herald News

RUTHERFORD, N.J. — At least one firefighter was treated for minor injuries while fighting a three-alarm blaze that appeared to have started in a barbershop in a commercial building on Ames Avenue, Mayor Joseph DeSalvo Jr. said Saturday.

DeSalvo credited firefighters with preventing the Friday night blaze from causing more widespread damage.

"The fire department did a tremendous job containing the fire to the one area so it didn't spread to the rest of the buildings attached to it," DeSalvo said.

DeSalvo said he had no word on what started the fire; police said more information would not be available until Monday.

The building's owner, Charles Winrow, said Friday night that he received a call about the fire around 9 p.m. and rushed to the scene.

He said firefighters told him that the blaze appeared to have originated in the Ames Barber Shop, at 8 Ames Ave. An eyewitness said the awning above the shop's entrance had burned off.

The building has 11 commercial tenants, including the barbershop and a beauty salon, Winrow said. He said he did not believe anyone was in the building when the fire started and that the building's smoke detectors, sprinkler system and fire exits were inspected about two weeks ago.

Copyright 2013 Herald News, North Jersey Media Group, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.    Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy

Distributed by Newsbank, Inc. All Rights Reserved