By Richard Cowen
Herald News
Copyright 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.,
All Rights Reserved
WAYNE, N.J. — The fire-charred roof is almost repaired and many residents are back home, but firefighters still have no better access to a Wayne apartment building than they did the day flames left 200 people temporarily homeless.
The fire three months ago in a top-floor corner of one of the Mountain View Crossing apartment buildings off Route 23 in Wayne renewed old fears about the building’s safety. It is situated amid two ponds and other impassable wetlands, and firetrucks could not maneuver around the structure because the fire lanes were too narrow.
Talks between the township and the owner over how to improve firefighter access to the complex now appear at a standstill.
Wayne officials have proposed cutting an access off Lewis Street at the rear of the complex and removing a wooded buffer zone to widen the existing fire lane. That would dramatically improve access to the 171-unit Building One, the structure heavily damaged in the March 19 blaze.
Mayor Scott Rumana said the idea was proposed during phone talks with the owner, Swiss-based UBS Global Asset Management.
“They were clearly very open to the suggestions that we were making in terms of further safety considerations,” Rumana said. “But we can’t make them do it.”
The township approved Mountain View Crossing in late June 1988 - only days before new state restrictions on wetlands development were to take effect.
At the time, the local Fire Department opposed the project because it feared the buildings would be difficult to access, but the township Planning Board gave its approval anyway.
The site plan allows for a narrow fire lane around Building One with tight turns and no access to the rear of the complex.
Rumana said the complex is in full compliance with safety standards and that township officials inspected all the units before allowing residents to return. UBS has applied to the township for permits to install a sprinkler system in the attic of Building One.
“The building is safe,” the mayor said. “We can make it safer.”
UBS referred all calls to its New York office, which declined comment.
Rumana said UBS has expressed concerns about a long, drawn-out hearing before the Planning Board should it decide to go ahead with plans to build the fire road. The mayor said the township would expedite that hearing to ensure safety improvements could be made quickly, but that the decision remains with UBS.
“They wanted to know what could be done to expedite approvals,” Rumana said, “and we said we would work with them. We certainly don’t want a long, drawn-out process, either.”
The existing fire lane is blocked by clumps of hedges. They have sprouted so high that it would be impossible for a firetruck to pass through them. Township officials said they were unaware of the problem.
The cause of the fire has not been officially determined, although there is no evidence of arson. It drove some 40 people at home at the time out into the parking lot, most with only the clothes on their backs.
Residents began moving back to Building One at the end of April. About 40 of the most heavily damaged units still are being fixed. Many residents say they’re glad to be back home after living out of a suitcase.
“It’s definitely a lot more quiet around here,” said Ismael Carrera, who lived with his wife Thilfa in a hotel for five weeks. “It seems a lot of people have not come back.”
Tenant Lawrence Guarino is one of those leaving. He said the fire destroyed not only his family’s possessions, but its sense of security at Mountain View Crossing. He wasn’t willing to put himself at a risk a second time, he said.
“I was told by several people that if that fire had been anywhere else but the corner of the building, people would have died or would have been hurt. That scares me. It’s a tragedy waiting to happen. This fire was a warning and as bad as it was, they were lucky.”
Guarino has been living in a Wayne hotel with his wife since the day the fire broke out in the attic above his apartment. He estimates he lost $200,000 in property - but his insurance policy covered only $50,000. He said all his jewelry is missing, either stolen or carelessly thrown out by the restoration crew.
Guarino said he only learned of the problems firetrucks had accessing the property after the fire.
“First there was a tragedy, and then there was a travesty,” he said.
Other residents say they’re pleased with the way the staff at Mountain View Crossing has treated them. Those displaced by the fire were given a free month’s rent, and some have been relocated to new apartments that were not damaged by the fire.
“All in all I’m pretty pleased with the way that management has treated me,” said Linda Walsh, who was relocated to a new apartment and didn’t have to pay moving costs. “I think they’ve done a good job.”
Walsh said she doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the possibility of another fire. She trusts that township officials wouldn’t allow people to live in the building if wasn’t safe.
“Of course,” she said, “I would like to know what caused the last fire, and does the Fire Department consider the building safe.”