By Bill Swayze
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
 Photo Ron Johnson Firefighters observe damage to the condominum building after its roof collapses. |
CHATHAM TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Jennifer McNamara was just going to make a pit stop at her home yesterday before going to her daughter’s when she saw the charred, smoky ruins of her Chatham Township condominium and dozens of firefighters.
An afternoon blaze swept through the 10-unit building in the Briarwood Coachlight Square, leaving dozens of people who lived there homeless.
quot;I felt stripped and naked. My whole life was in there,” said McNamara, a 51-year-old receptionist who lived in the building for four years. “My photos — photos of my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother — all of it gone.”
Chatham Township Fire Chief Jim Condus told about 40 condo residents last night that the fire started outside the building on the ground level.
The blaze is being investigated by the Morris County Prosecutor’s arson unit and local police, he said.
No one was injured.
&The fire was first noticed around 3 p.m. by Sal Delano, who was driving past the building after walking his wife’s dog when he saw smoke coming from the first floor, said Bill Clinton, president of the condominium association and a resident of the building that burned.
Delano called his wife, who alerted police to the fire.
Four people were in the building at the time, and Delano ran through the building yelling “Fire! Fire! Fire!” Clinton said.
“I just ran out of the building immediately. I didn’t grab anything. I wish I did,” said Clinton, noting he lost expensive digital photo and camera equipment.
The fire caused the center of the building to cave in. Four of the units on the ground floor had extensive water damage, while the rest of the units were gutted.
It took firefighters from five departments about an hour to get the fire under control, though hoses on aerial ladders high above the building blasted the sections of the building still smoldering last night.
Police officers will be stationed at the building around the clock, and Condus warned residents not to attempt to get back into their homes because the building was structurally unsound.
Clinton, who lived there since 1994, said the Tudor-style complex was 22 years old with 307 units in 25 buildings.
McNamara said she was grateful no one was hurt.
“A home can be rebuilt but the sad part of this is you lose your neighbors,” McNamara said.
Copyright 2008 Newark Morning Ledger Co.
All Rights Reserved