EAST ORANGE, New Jersey (WABC) — Dozens of people were injured after a fire ripped through an apartment building in Essex County, New Jersey on Sunday morning.
The fire broke out around 6:15 a.m. at an apartment building on Washington Street in East Orange.
Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy smoke and fire on the first floor of the building. Video shows firefighters on scene as thick, grey smoke billowed from the building’s windows.
At least 36 people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, including two firefighters who suffered minor injuries.
Some tenants told Eyewitness News they thought they could stay in their units on the lower floors of the building but in the end, everyone had to get out.
Those who did walk down the stairs, say it was pitch black, that they had trouble holding wet cloths to their mouths to keep the smoke out.
One man described the unsettling situation his family has to go through.
“My mother’s in a wheelchair, she’s elderly, so that became a process in itself. They started taking her out of the window and they started having problems so they said they may have to take her through the steps, even though there was a lot of smoke and that turned into a major project because she was taking in a lot of smoke because they had a hard time getting her through,” said Amman Rickets.
According to East Orange Fire Chief Andre Williams, crews made several rescues from the windows, with the help of mutual aid companies who came to assist.
The fire was put under control around 7:50 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross says a team of disaster responders are on scene helping those impacted by the fire.
Fire officials are now trying to determine the cause of the fire.
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