Man and dog rescued from Pine Street blaze in Morristown

Fire at 15 Pine St. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
'LIKE HEAVEN' no longer. Fatal fire at 15 Pine St. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Fire at 15 Pine St. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Fire at 15 Pine St. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

UPDATE: The Morris Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday morning announced a fatality in the fire. No further details were released. Stay tuned here for updates.

By Kevin Coughlin

A man and his dog were rescued from the roof of a smoky house fire on Pine Street that displaced several tenants late on Monday night.

There were no reports of injuries to residents or firefighters, though it was not immediately clear if all tenants had been accounted for.

One tenant feared that her cat, Minnie, did not escape the blaze.

Morristown Police Capt. Michael Buckley said the call came in at 11:25 pm, on what shaped up as a busy overnight.

While firefighters from several towns responded to the fire at 15 Pine St., they also had to contend with a  gas leak just around the corner, outside the 40 Park condos on South Street.  Public Service Electric and Gas was on the scene early on Tuesday, police said.

Update: A contractor ruptured a gas line, prompting the evacuation of some 40 Park condo residents, according to PSE&G.

Flames still were shooting from the back roof of the three-story house on Pine Street as midnight came and went.  By then, a third floor tenant and his pet had been rescued from the rooftop.

“I went for him, and he said, ‘Save my dog!’ I brought the dog down the ladder,” said Police Officer Yeison de los Santos.

Video: Firefighters battle blaze on Pine Street

Three tenants lived on the top floor, three more lived on the second, and a couple rented a ground floor apartment, as their occasional residence, behind a former computer shop, said building owner Cesar Ralph Catizone of Randolph.

Just 15 days ago, owners of a salon signed a lease and they were moving into the vacant shop, he said.

“As long as nobody got hurt,” that’s the main thing, Catizone said. “I got insurance.”

As he spoke, firemen wearing respirators were ducking inside smoke-choked windows and doorways trying to make sure nobody was trapped inside.

When the fire appeared to reignite, sending flames billowing from the structure’s rear, a fire truck blasted a warning signal. Firefighters scrambled from the fiery house, which is a short walk from the Mayo Performing Arts Center and the Vail Mansion.

Tenant Dan Spiegel had been working nearby as sous-chef at the new South and Pine restaurant, phoning in produce orders for the next day, when a dishwasher mentioned a big fire. Someone else suggested Spiegel should go take a look–the fire was on his street.

“Sure enough, it was my apartment,” recounted Spiegel, 31, who has lived on the second floor for about 18 months.

Elizabeth Faller, 28, was one of Spiegel’s two apartment mates.

“This is insane,” said Faller, a receptionist who moved in two months ago. She was visiting her mom in Caldwell on Monday when Spiegel called with the bad news.

“I came home and my entire place was on fire,” Faller said.

Town records indicate the house dates to 1900. Catizon, who is retired from the construction business, said he has owned the place for 40 years, remodeling its bathrooms and kitchens about three years ago. The town only required sprinklers for the ground floor apartment, he said.

Tenants said they have complained about water leaks; Spiegel said the light switches were temperamental.

Morristown firefighters were assisted at the fire by firemen from Morris Township, Madison and Cedar Knolls, and by the Morristown Ambulance Squad and the Morris County Office of Emergency Management.

We’ll have more details as they become available.

Berit Ollestad contributed to this report.

Firefighters attend to suspected gas leak on South Street, early on July 14, 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Firefighters attend to suspected gas leak on South Street, early on July 14, 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad

 

 

 

 

 

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