Millburn Firefighters Among Those at Short Hills Village Fire

Flames shot through the roof of one of the buildings at the Short Hills Village apartment complex in Springfield on Friday afternoon.

Millburn firefighters were among the 13 departments that responded to extinguish the four-alarm fire. The eight-unit building is part of a complex that is on Forest Drive behind the Chanticler and Millburn High School.

Springfield Fire Department Chief James Sanford said firefighters responded shortly before 12:30 p.m. to a report of smoke coming from the attic of the two-story building. Upon entering the building, firefighters found a heavy fire coming from the attic. Shortly after,  crews from 12 other fire departments were on the scene.

Fire companies and emergency medical services teams — including Summit, Westfield, Millburn, Union, Hillside, Roselle, Elizabeth, and Plainfield — responded with about 60 firefighters and four ladder trucks and nine engines.  Emergency Management Services joined the Springfield Fire Department to fight the blaze and and provide comfort to residents who were forced from their homes. The fire was declared under control just before 2 p.m. and officials said it was extinguished by 3:30 p.m.

Sanford said the four-alarm blaze has rendered Building 10 at Short Hills Village a total loss. The fire spread across the 40-foot-by-200-foot roof and broke out at the same time workers were doing a repair job. There is no official comment on how the fire started, but officials said at least 20 people have lost their homes because of the fire.

This is the second fire in 11 months to break out at the complex. On Sept. 30, 2009, firefighters from Springfield, Millburn, Summit and Westfield battled a basement fire in another building in the complex. Nobody was injured during that fire.

Sanford said there were no civilian injuries, but three firefighters went to area hospitals with a minor burn, a knee injury and a case of heat stress. A Union firefighter was transported to  Overlook Hospital, and two Springfield firefighters were taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center.

Firefighters also rescued a cat from the blaze.

"Thank goodness nobody was hurt," said Gary DeGregorio, CEO of Forest Realty, which owns the complex. "The fire department has done a great job any time there is an emergency here. We are working with the Red Cross to give temporary housing for all displaced families in the empty apartments we have." 

One woman, wrapped in a blanket, stood out on the lawn. She held her baby and tried to comfort her other three children, all of whom were younger than six.

Newlyweds Rudy and Marie Altenor held their 3-1/2 month old baby, Noah, and stared at the scene in disbelief. They moved to Short Hills Village in February. "The super came knocking on the door, yelling that the building was on fire," Marie said. "So I grabbed the baby and ran. Don't know anything about our possessions."

Marie called Rudy, who was at work in Newark. As he sped home on Route 78, he said he could see the smoke billowing above the trees. "Now is when I think about the things we should have done," he said. "We don't know if any of our stuff can be saved, but I know that I would have gotten renter's insurance."

The couple did find a silver lining in the tragedy. Thanks to a slow-moving photographer, they didn't lose their wedding photos in the fire.

Julie Siciliano, from Colonial Crossroads Red Cross, said that she will remain on the scene until every displaced resident has found a place to go.

Traffic has been closed on Forest Drive. Traffic on Short Hills Avenue was closed from Millburn Avenue to Morris Avenue

Millburn-Short Hills Patch editor Jennifer Connic contributed to this story.