A fast-moving fire tore through several structures and took the life of a 74-year-old victim in Union City, New Jersey, on the afternoon of April 18, 2026.
There was a faint odor of smoke along the 600-block of 39th Street. At 3:47 p.m., the North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue communications (Fire Control) dispatched a full assignment to the area of 39th St. and Kennedy Blvd. for a report of a fire. Fire Control then informed responding units to proceed down the 39th St. hill to Bergen Turnpike for a reported garage fire impinging on a building. An arriving unit then radioed in that there was a working fire in a garage extending to a building. By now, there was a huge column of black smoke rising into the sky.
The garage fire had extended into an unoccupied, two-story wood-frame structure that was being renovated. In a matter of minutes, this building was fully involved. A second alarm was transmitted at 3:48 pm…