A massive fire ripped through several buildings, including a pair of apartment complexes under construction in downtown Bound Brook Sunday night, according to fire officials. Firefighters, who continued to battle the blaze past 11 p.m., said there were no known injuries.
The fire broke out on East Main Street near Mountain Avenue shortly before 8 p.m. Photos and video showed roaring flames spreading to both sides of the street and consuming a building in the borough’s downtown commercial district.
In addition to the construction sites, Bound Brook Police Chief Vito Bet said the fire spread to two houses and an electronics store, as well.
“The whole thing caught flame quickly," Bet said. The fire "was so hot it blew to the other new building under construction across the street. We’re gonna be out here for awhile. It keeps rekindling.“
NJ Transit suspended the Raritan Valley Line between between Bridgewater and Dunellen in both directions due to the fire. Substitute bus service was being provided.
The fire first erupted in a unoccupied complex known as the Meridia Downtown, which included 174 apartments plus retail space, said Bound Brook Borough Councilman Abel Gomez.
Possibly aided by Sunday’s high winds, Gomez said the flames leapt across main Street to a second apartment complex, which was also under construction. That complex is made up of 60 residential units plus a restaurant. Gomez did not know the name of the second complex.
Downtown resident Mary Savage, who lives across the street from the initial complex, said the fire started in one section of the construction site and within seconds the flames had ripped across the entire building.
“It’s bad here,” Capt. Kevin Rivenbark said, before hurrying off the phone. He said a cause of the fire had not yet been determined.
Gomez, who watched the inferno spread, said it was highly likely that additional surrounding buildings would be damaged or destroyed.
As firefighters attacked the flames, more than 100 people stood outside and watched the fire burn.
Ariel Piere noticed smoke while driving on Route 287 around 8:30 p.m. “It just keeps spreading and spreading,” said Piere, 31, who lives about two blocks from the Meridia apartment.
Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Firefighters are battling a massive blaze in downtown Bound Brook on Sunday, Jan. 12.
Buck Clarke, owner of the yet-to-open Piedmont Distilleries, which is located in a one-story building behind the apartments, was also among the onlookers.
“The apartment building was nothing but 100 units of framing," Clarke said. "What these fire crews have done is pretty remarkable. I’m very much relieved. It could have very easily spread.”
Gomez said the destroyed Meridia Downtown was distinct from a similar project completed several years ago about six blocks away known as the Meridia Main, which was not damaged on Sunday.
He said the fire was a huge setback for the borough, which had suffered a series of devastating floods over the past two decades but was looking forward to a rebirth following completion of a major flood control project in 2016.
He said the two destroyed complexes — both developed entirely with private funding — were within the borough’s downtown redevelopment zone, and were to be among the initial fruits of the flood control project after construction on both complexes had begun last Spring.
“Bound Brook was in the process of a renaissance,” Gomez said. “After all the floods we’ve had here, and now we have this fire.”
NJ Advance Media Editor Suzanne Pavkovic contributed to this report.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AvalonZoppo.
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