Cause of Massive Hillsborough Fire Still Unknown

Hillsborough, NJ -- The investigation into the massive warehouse fire in Veteran’s Administration Industrial Park in Hillsborough continues as federal agencies get involved.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Response Team (NRT) is leading a joint investigation of the fire that destroyed several warehouse buildings Thursday and Friday.

The fire, which began Thursday afternoon, had more than 30 fire companies from at least five different counties across the state and more than 200 emergency vehicles coming to the scene to try and extinguish it.

The total loss of multiple buildings is estimated at several million dollars, the ATF reported.

Personnel on the NRT, as well as Agents from the ATF Newark Field Division are on scene and will lead the investigation along with the Hillsborough Township Fire Marshals, the Hillsborough Township Police Department, the New Jersey State Division of Fire Safety, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The primary mission of the NRT is to provide ATF explosives and fire investigative resources and expertise on large-scale incidents, or on more complex investigations due to the size, scope, or number of victims,” the ATF reported in a release.

Past NRT activations include such incidents as an explosion in West Texas that killed 14 people in 2013; the spree of 10 arsons at churches in Texas in 2010; a commercial fire in Charleston, S.C., that killed nine firefighters in 2007; and national-level incidents such as the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon; the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta; the Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the ATF reported.

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