9-02-85 Passaic, NJ Labor Day Fire, Conflagration #21
by Steven Spak
Title
9-02-85 Passaic, NJ Labor Day Fire, Conflagration #21
Artist
Steven Spak
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
It was Labor Day on September 2nd 1985. I was working as a Court Officer at Queens Criminal court. I had weekends and holidays off from work. I went to visit my parents who lived in Brooklyn near Kings Plaza.
Meanwhile two boys aged 13 and 14 were playing on the grounds of an industrial complex in Passaic, New Jersey, which housed old factories and warehouses that were built in the late 1800’s.
It was a windy and sunny. Due to vandalism. The city of Passaic shut down one in five fire hydrants every summer for the past 3 years. More than 100 fire hydrants were shut down, many in the area of the industrial area. The water pressure in the area was very low. There was a water tank on the roof of a factory that contained the capacity of 100,000 thousand gallons of water that could be used for firefighting. The tank was empty and has been empty for the past three years.
The two boys were playing with matches and threw some lit matches into a 30-foot trash container. Inside the dumpster was refuse containing Naphthalene, made of highly flammable chemicals that are used in the making of Moth Balls. The dumpster was located between two huge six story factory buildings located at 122 and 130 Eighth Street. They were built in the late 1800’s. both building contained highly flammable items.
The fire quickly spread up and out of the dumpster setting fires to both buildings. When firefighters arrived, they were met with 50-foot flames extending to the surrounding buildings.
There was very low water pressure in the area. High winds and the fact that some of the hydrants were shut off and the old building were constructed of heavy timber, caused the makings of a perfect storm.
At my parents’ house, I was monitoring our citywide news and buff frequency over my two way
Handie- talkie radio. Someone on the radio reported the fire in Passaic. Some citywide members, some press photographers started to head towards the fire in Passaic. David Bookstaver, who was working for Associated Press at the time arrived at the scene minutes later. His report on citywide radio was “HOLY SHIT” everyone who hears the sound of my voice should respond! This is a major job! On citywide “HOLY SHIT” is only reserved for extreme emergency situations and is rarely used.
I gathered my camera bag, got in my car and started out for Passaic, N.J. Being Labor Day, the traffic was light. Meanwhile on Citywide Radio the reports were getting worse. Fire was extending into numerous buildings including Dwellings. Numerous mutual aid Fire Departments were sent into the city and to the fire.
It took me about an hour to arrive at the scene. When I exited the Lincoln tunnel, I could see a huge column of black smoke in the direction I was traveling on Route 80. Upon arrival I parked about 10 blocks away from the fire. I walked up to the scene and saw 2 partially collapsed factory buildings with only a few walls standing.
To the left of me I saw numerous homes on fire. I walked in front of a block where a couple of homes were burning. The fire was extending to exposures on all sides. There were only a couple of lines being used. And a ladder pipe was being set up on one corner. The massive size of the fire overwhelmed the firefighters attack. The Fire continued to extend to the next block.
Next, I walked back to the other side of the factory and warehouse area. It was an incredible sight. Patterson’s ladder 2 was operating a ladder pipe into a two story fully involved block long factory building. Across the street was an old block long 4 story handkerchief factory and warehouse. At the time I arrived in this area, there were no fire in any of the surrounding buildings. Radiant heat, high winds and lack of water created impossible conditions for firefighters to stop the spread of the fire. The roof of the Handkerchief factory on the exposure one side across the street of the 2-story building started to smoke. The fire in the handkerchief started to grow and grow. Eventually that building became fully involved in spectacular fire conditions.
Arriving Mutual Aid fire companies started to stretch hoses to the Passaic River. A few hours earlier David Handschuh, a friend and NY Daily News Photographer, told me went to the bathroom in a 6 story block long warehouse that looked like a huge school. That building now is on fire. It seemed to me the fire ran out of fuel , in the industrial area towards the Passaic river.
The fire did extreme damage to the City of Passaic. One firefighter died of a heart attack fighting the blaze. Firefighter William Koenemund from the Secaucus had chest pains and later died from a massive heart attack. 7 other firefighters suffered minor injuries. In all 40 acres burned destroying 18 factories and 23 homes leaving 150 families with over 400 members homeless. They said the fire caused between 400 to 500 million dollars in damage. 2000 people lost their jobs. The City of Passaic lost a major source of taxes. The area never fully recovered.
Today there are still remnants of the blaze.
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February 19th, 2020
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