Update: Fire Evacuees May Be Allowed To Go Home Friday

The residents forced out of their homes by a massive warehouse fire early Wednesday will not be allowed to return home Thursday, officials said.

They hope to allow the residents to go home Friday.

At an afternoon press conference, aired on News 12 New Jersey, officials offered more details about the massive blaze that broke out around 2 a.m. Wednesday at the warehouse on Livingston Avenue, off Route 1, in North Brunswick.

The fire, which reached nine alarms, was about 90 percent contained, police said Thursday.

Four excavators were at the scene Thursday, tearing the building apart, Fire Chief Don Salzmann said.

As those crews rip apart the warehouse, they are giving the firefighters they access they need to douse the remaining pockets of fire.

Firefighters expected to extinguish the bulk of those hotspots by Thursday night and hope to have them completely out by Friday.

As the fire blazed, people reported seeing the thick, black smoke from as far away as Ocean County and New York City.

On Thursday morning, a light gray cloud of smoke still remained in the area.

Federal, state and county environmental officials went to the scene on Wednesday and were expected to continue monitoring air quality Thursday and possibly Friday. No immediate hazards were detected, officials said.

Residents of a few more homes were evacuated Wednesday night because of some concerns about particulates in the air, according to a state Department of Environmental Protection official.

Officials are not allowing residents to return home because of the heavy smoke that is saturating the area, he said.

But, police said, they were allowing residents to be escorted, briefly, to their homes to retrieve necessities.

WABC said a total of about 200 people were evacuated.

Emergency workers from 11 counties and firefighters from 100 companies came to town to assist.

The warehouse contained about eight businesses, officials have said.

Those businesses include a plastics manufacturer and another that contains floor coverings, blinds and household furniture.

A vice-president at DCH Brunswick Toyota told NJ.com that his company did not own the warehouse and had no vehicles inside, because officials there had emptied the warehouse several weeks ago.

A New York-based company owns the warehouse, the fire chief said on Wednesday.

Thursday morning township officials said Livingston Avenue remained closed between How Lane and Route 1. Residents may also continue to experience low water pressure and discoloration.

The mayor has previously said South Brunswick residents may also have low water pressure.

In East Brunswick, officials on Wednesday shut down the Crystal Springs Family Aquatic Center because of falling debris from the fire. It re-opened Thursday.

East Brunswick Township’s Emergency Management Office on Thursday morning said they are continuing to monitor air quality in that town, and all levels have been in the safe range. But the smell of smoke was expected to linger in that community for several days.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is expected to begin at 7 a.m. Friday. Federal, state, county and local authorities will work together on that investigation.

Photos via North Brunswick Volunteer Fire Company 1 Facebook page