Christmas Eve Fire Tears Through Highland Park Apartment Complex

HIGHLAND PARK, NJ — As many as 18 families were left homeless over Christmas after a fire broke out on the afternoon of Christmas Eve in a Highland Park apartment complex.

Up to four apartments were destroyed and about a dozen others badly damaged. The fire was big and the smoke could be seen for miles throughout that part of Central New Jersey, a first responder at the scene told Patch.

The fire occurred at an apartment complex at the Cedar Lane apartments just before 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, at the intersection of Treetop Drive and Cedar Lane, according to an EMT who responded and took that photo.

Fortunately, nobody was injured in the fire, he said. A few of the displaced residents had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Just as it was getting dark on Christmas Eve someone in the complex smelled smoke and called 911. But the fire had already been able to burn for some time before that. Neighbors told ABC 7 that the fire started in the apartment of a resident who was a notorious hoarder, which made it very difficult for firefighters to find the original source of the blaze. The resident was not home when the fire broke out.

That type of fire source is referred to by firefighters as a "Collyer's Mansion," which means a fire that originates in an extreme hoarding situation, which can be very dangerous for firefighters to fight due to risk of injury or getting trapped.

"The fire had a long head start," Highland Park Assistant Fire Chief Tony Szemereta told ABC 7. "I mean, usually we can get it when it's contained in an apartment, but it had already gotten out of the apartment through the roof in the attic."

"(The firefighters) all came fast, it (just) doesn't seem fast enough," said Madhu Banerjee, one of the residents whose apartment was destroyed. "2018 was a pretty bad year, and I was looking forward to getting over it. And just when you think it can't get any worse, it can."

"It is very emotional being here," James Polos, director of the Highland Park Office of Emergency Management, told NBC 4. "You're in borderline tears, looking at these people who have lost so much tonight and have to be displaced."

The Red Cross provided emergency housing for many of the displaced families.

Photos from the scene taken by Paul Karmazin, local EMT, and provided to Patch.