None Injured as Fire Damages Plateau Avenue Home

It took Fort Lee firefighters about a half hour to extinguish a blaze in which a two-story house on Plateau Avenue sustained heavy damage Friday morning, but nobody was injured, officials said.

Chief Keith Sabatino of the said the call came in at about 8:52 a.m. Friday of a fire inside the house on Plateau Avenue between Abbott Boulevard and Central Boulevard near Palisade Avenue.

“The residents said that they saw a fire in the back room,” Sabatino said. “They went to throw some water on it; they realized it was too big for them, and they got out—thank God.”

Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy fire coming out of the rear bedroom window and conducted an interior search, Sabatino said, adding that initial reports indicated there could still have been people in the house, but that “all searches were negative.”

“All hands were working; we had two lines stretched in there,” the fire chief said. “It was a pretty quick knock down with this. Nobody was injured, and everybody got out of the house so it’s just basically structural damage to it. It was a good job by my firefighters.”

Fort Lee Office of Emergency Management (OEM) officials, who were also on scene Friday morning, said they had started the process of contacting homeowners in the vicinity—although Sabatino said no nearby structures were damaged—and helping the victims with emergency arrangements.

Sabatino said damage was mostly to the second floor of the two-story house, and that the fire remains under investigation.

“We’re not sure what started it yet,” he said.