Fire Destroys Row of Houses in Camden
A smoky fire that started last night in an abandoned Camden rowhouse spread to seven other houses, destroying the block, before it was brought under control by firefighters.
None of the residents on the block, South 24th Street, between Mickle Street and Carman Street, was hurt in the three-alarm blaze, Camden fire officials said. Firefighters banged on doors to summon residents, evacuating tenants from three inhabited houses. All eight buildings were destroyed.
Firefighter Ramon Melendez was taken to a hospital, suffering from smoke inhalation, said Camden Fire Chief Kenneth Penn.
Two women living as squatters in an abandoned house at 61 S. 24th St. were rescued by a ladder truck from the second floor, Penn said.
At another home, firefighters pulled a woman to safety after she tried to rescue her German shepherd, trapped inside. The firefighter retrieved the dog, limp from the smoke, and administered oxygen to the animal, said New Jersey police investigator Martin Schwartz.
"They had trouble controlling her. She wouldn't leave the house because of the dog," Schwartz said.
The woman's other dog was pulled away by neighbors.
Schwartz is part of the state police task force that has patrolled Camden since January. Gov. Whitman announced last week that the officers would be leaving Camden this weekend.
The fire broke out at 7:21 p.m. at 63 S. 24th St., and wasn't brought under control until two hours later, firefighters said. Penn said the fire spread quickly up the row of houses, traveling through a common attic area of the homes.
Penn said it was too soon to tell what sparked the fire.
Residents on Carman Street said they could hear firefighters shouting that there was no water coming from their hoses. Penn said the fire hydrants on the block could not produce enough water to fight the escalating blaze, and so the battalion chief quickly called in for backup pumpers. At no time, he said, were firefighters without water.
Maria Rodriguez, who lives a few blocks away and has friends on the block said one of the abandoned houses was known as a drug house where dealing took place day and night.
"You see it in the streets. You see the raids by the cops. Everything," she said.
Two of the residents, Jose Jimenez and roommate Saul Cabral, escaped after smoke poured into their living room. They were unharmed. But the two men, struggling to make new lives after moving from El Salvador and Cuba, lost all their furniture, including the dining room set purchased last month.
"They had set up everything real nice," Rodriguez said. "They started with nothing. It seems now they'll have to start all over again."