Passenger Trains > Fire in Bound Brook, NJ; NJT Raritan Valley Line shut down

NJ Transit Travel Alerts
Jan 12, 2020  11:05:57 PM

Raritan Valley Line service is currently suspended between Bridgewater and Dunellen due to 6-alarm structure fire near NJ TRANSIT tracks in Bound Brook. Substitute bus service is being provided. The fire may impact the morning commute. Please continue to check NJTRANSIT.COM, make sure you have signed up for push notifications on our app and follow @NJTRANSIT_RVL on Twitter for the latest service information.

-NJ Transit
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The fire erupted in an apartment/commercial complex being built on property adjacent to the NJ Transit tracks. It jumped across Main St., lighting afire another new complex under construction.  Both are destroyed; they are privately-financed projects in the downtown Bound Brook redevelopment zone.  The huge fire also set other buildings on fire, including at least two residences and a retail store, and flying embers are setting other blazes in the area.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/20 23:38 by GenePoon.

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Wow, that is some blaze, a fireman's nightmare.  Let's pray that no lives are lost and that no one is seriously injured.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

http://newjersey.news12.com/story/41553675/massive-5alarm-fire-destroys-apartment-complex-spreads-to-another-complex-and-businesses

https://patch.com/new-jersey/bridgewater/5-alarm-fire-rages-bound-brook

I saw these things being constructed in October. Seeing all the plywood for the number of floors, no one should ever spend money to rent them. They are firetraps. This is "Transit Oriented Development" 5 story apartment buildings going up like topsy in a lot of places, and they rent very quickly. Most boroughs also have 130 year old buildings made of steel and brick, some heavily refurbished. But nowadays, tree-house building code is what suffices. You'd have to be an idiot or have a death wish to rent in one of these TOD's.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/20 08:19 by joemvcnj.

"Disposable housing". 

NJ has had several spectacular fires in large, multi-story wood buildings. The developers are willing to take the risk...


https://www.nj.com/somerset/2020/01/nj-transit-train-station-in-bound-brook-closed-monday-after-huge-downtown-fire.html

Posted from Android

I am told building up 7 floors can be made of wood. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> I am told building up 7 floors can be made of
> wood. 

That sounds right.  The huge fire in Edgewater a few years ago pushed that rule by not having fire wall breaks go through the attic and the roof.  They only went up through the occupied space.

I live a few miles west of there. Scuttlebutt at the supermarket today said there is no fire-proofing of any sort between units, and this is the same owner, who already had money problems, who put up the "Meridia" next to Bound Brook station a few years ago,.

The liquor store and a Dunkin Donuts were damaged to some extent. A nearby residence was destroyed. The DD is on the same footprint as the Harley-Davidson was 20+ years ago, which literally blew up sky high from gas leak with Hurricane Floyd.

NJT is bypassing Bound Brook station. About 700 people board at that station everyday, some are transit-dependent, and no other station is walk-able from there. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/20 08:11 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I saw these things being constructed in October.
> Seeing all the plywood for the number of floors,
> no one should ever spend money to rent them. They
> are firetraps. This is "Transit Oriented
> Development" 5 story apartment buildings going up
> like topsy in a lot of places, and they rent very
> quickly. Most boroughs also have 130 year old
> buildings made of steel and brick, some heavily
> refurbished. But nowadays, tree-house building
> code is what suffices. You'd have to be an idiot
> or have a death wish to rent in one of these
> TOD's.


Lulz, professional backseat driver and fire marshall.  

darkcloud Wrote:

> Lulz, professional backseat driver and fire marshall.  

What a STUPID remark. Go back in your caboose.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/20 08:34 by joemvcnj.

Typical "podium" construction. 4 stories of wood over a reinforced concrete base--very common these days for multi-family buildings. The concrete portion is usually parking or retail. The structure should be fully sprinklered...if occupied...but sprinklers would be not yet active if still under construction.
 

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

Bottom 2 floors are usually concrete. Up to 5 stories above that - all wood. They are going up eveywhere and rent is usually high for the area, being that much other housing around is 100 years old, but they do fill up with the un-suspecting. 

Can't remember where I saw the article last year, but it talked the 4+1 and now 5+2 (wood over concrete floors) that have become so common around the  country because of common building regulations and codes.  The article was more focused on how plain they are architecturally, but also about how the costs and ease of construction have made them so prevelant.

There was a building like this next to the West Oakland BART station that went up in flames years ago.  And I remember watching the smoke from a similar fire in San Francisco when another project burned.  That was a huge fire, lots and lots of smoke that day that you could see for miles around.  Sure hope no one was hurt in this blaze.  In all of the previous cases, the sprinklers weren't on yet, so nothing could slow the fire down, the firefighters were just focused on containing it, not stopping it.  

Nathan

Morning-after of the building where the fire started show the two lower floors, built of concrete, burned but standing; and columns, presumably for utilities and elevators.

The entire wooden superstructure is gone.

Dcmcrider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Typical "podium" construction. 4 stories of wood over a reinforced concrete base--very common these days for multi-family buildings. The concrete portion is usually parking or retail. The structure should be fully sprinklered...if occupied...but sprinklers would be not yet active if still under construction.


These buildings are required to be fully sprinkled to get their occupancy permit signed off.

Yea, there have been several spectacular fires in under construction sites that don't have the sprinklers working yet, but have there been any such spectacular fires in buildings that DO have the springler system working?

Brian

choodude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These buildings are required to be fully sprinkled
> to get their occupancy permit signed off.
>
> Yea, there have been several spectacular fires in
> under construction sites that don't have the
> sprinklers working yet, but have there been any
> such spectacular fires in buildings that DO have
> the springler system working?
>
> Brian


"Luxury New Jersey Apartment Complex Destroyed in Massive Fire"

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/edgewater-new-jersey-apartment-complex-fire/154141/

"McPartland said the building had sprinklers inside. ​"

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/20 06:32 by joemvcnj.

https://patch.com/new-jersey/bridgewater/bound-brook-man-charged-setting-massive-7-alarm-fire

http://newjersey.news12.com/story/41562405/bound-brook-man-charged-with-arson-in-massive-fire-that-destroyed-multiple-buildings



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/20 14:43 by joemvcnj.

The plywood makes a very good shear wall; much better than the old diagonal blocking.  Covered with 5/8” sheetrock the walls are quite fire resistant.  I believe that the 5/8” sheetrock makes a one-hour firewall.