PASSAIC, NJ - A four-alarm blaze destroyed a Van Buren Street home near Central Avenue just before 11:00 A.M. on December 26, 2023. At 10:59 A.M., Passaic companies were dispatched to 162 Van Bruen St. A second-alarm was quickly struck by Battalion Chief James Kovavcs as heavy smoke and fire was showing from the second-floor and already extending to the top floor on his arrival. Not too long after, a third-alarm was struck as conditions worsened.

Firefighters were quickly removed after a partial ceiling collapse. A fourth-alarm was struck, bringing additional mutual aid to the scene to assist. Heavy fire in the rear of the building and top floor forced firefighters to evacuate the building. They had two master streams from Passaic Ladder 2 and Clifton Ladder 3 in operation, along with multiple hand lines to knock down the fire. Companies reentered the home to get at the remaining fire.

The fire may have begun in the basement and then extended to the upper floors of the wooden balloon-frame structure, responders said.

Mutual aid from Carlstadt, Clifton, East Rutherford, Garfield, Paterson, Rutherford and Wallington assisted on scene, while units from West Paterson, Haledon, Prospect Park and Wayne, Totowa, and Little Falls covered city firehouses. No injuries were reported in the blaze.