Commercial Fire Stopping Traffic on Rte. 22 in Union

A fire in a commercial building on Rte. 22 in Union is backing up traffic and causing passers-by and local residents to pull out their cellphone cameras.

By 11:30 a.m., the fire had gone to two alarms. Shortly before noon, the eastbound lanes of Rte. 22 were closed to traffic and the westbound lanes were experiencing heavy delays. The location of the fire is at Ball Avenue and Rte. 22 in Union. Clouds of heavy smoke from the blaze could be seen from neighboring towns, including Kenilworth and Cranford.

According to reports, mutual aid crews from Cranford, Springfield and Summit responded to the scene, along with the Union County Hazmat team. Emergency medical units were also seen heading toward the scene, but there have not yet been reports of any injuries.

A call to the Union Township Fire Department at 1 p.m. yielded no further information. All fire personnel were at the scene, including Fire Chief Frederic A. Fretz.

Patch will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.