By Karen Keller
The Herald News
PASSAIC, N.J. — Nearly four years ago, city and state inspectors said an old factory building on Jefferson Street was unsafe and should be razed. Seven fires later - including one on Sunday - the building remains standing, and the city fire chief is frustrated.
City officials plan to meet with the owner of the building, which is slated to be part of a 20-acre redevelopment project, on Monday, said fire Chief Patrick Trentacost. Meantime, a business that has been in the complex for 28 years is saying it’s time to make an exit.
On Sunday, a three-alarm afternoon fire was extinguished after seven units from Passaic, Paterson, Clifton and Carlstadt were called to the scene. In 2004, a fire there set the roof ablaze. Since 2004, at least eight fires have broken out in the building.
Reasons that the site hasn’t been ordered razed remain murky.
Trentacost said the fires have damaged the structure, and the unstable conditions threaten the lives of firefighters and vagrants. In Sunday’s fire, a firefighter received eight stitches to one hand, Trentacost said.
“Every time we enter the building, there’s a risk,” he said. “There’s parts of the buildings with no floors, there’s huge slabs of cement hanging.” He said he suspects that vagrants set all eight fires, either to cook, keep warm, or in retaliation for being kicked off the grounds by other squatters.
The building, at 26 Jefferson St., dates back to the 1880s. From that period until 1993, the Pantasote factory made synthetic fabrics for trains, automobiles and, later, shower curtains and plastic trays. The largely abandoned, red-brick building sits on roughly eight acres and was formerly composed of several adjoining buildings, some up to three stories high.
After the 2004 fire, the property owner, Bruce Kopelman, demolished one building, according to Pedro Rodriguez, general manager of Puebla Foods, a Mexican food company that operates its distribution center in the building. Puebla Foods is the building’s only remaining tenant.
The city redevelopment commission hasn’t yet ordered demolition of the buildings because the eastside redevelopment project, unveiled in 2004, still needs local and state approval, said Glenn Carter, city planner. The complex sits on soil and groundwater that is contaminated, said Larry Hajna, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection. It also has an asbestos problem, Trentacost said.
If the redevelopment plan gets approval, the developer would first try to negotiate a purchase from Kopelman, the owner, Carter said. If the two parties could not strike a deal, then the city would seize the lot through eminent domain, he said. Under the redevelopment plan, the Pantasote complex would be part of a new commercial zone, he said.
Kopelman did not return a telephone call Wednesday seeking comment.
Rodriguez, the manager of Puebla Foods - a company that made roughly $15 million in revenue last year and delivers Mexican goods with the brand-name Mi Pueblito to East Coast states - said the company owner is anxious to leave the property. Puebla operates two additional sites. There have been too many fires, and the homeless have repeatedly tried to enter the property to steal goods, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is worried that his 10 workers in the building could be injured. The fires have caused minor water damage to goods, he said. On Monday, the company had massive silver tarps strung up from the ceiling in its distribution warehouse to prevent water damage.
TIMELINE
Since 2004, at least eight fires have started inside or around 26 Jefferson St.
2004: It takes firefighters at least four hours to douse a four-alarm blaze that ignites the building’s entire roof. Fire departments from neighboring towns assist.
2005: Small camp fire
2006: A bonfire lit by six men spreads and must be extinguished.
April 14, 2007: Rubbish fire started by vagrants inside the building
April 30, 2007: Rubbish fire in the back of the building
Aug. 6, 2007: Small fire in a bush in back of the building
Dec. 1, 2007: Small fire inside a wall and ceiling
Feb. 17: Three-alarm fire breaks out. Fire departments from neighboring towns assist.
Source: Passaic Fire Department
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