By: Tracie Carter
One person suffered fatal injuries in a fire that erupted inside a senior citizen building in Newark’s North Ward Saturday evening.
Firefighters were dispatched to Stephen Crane Senior Building at 880 Frankin Avenue to investigate reports of a fire inside the high-rise building just at the border of Belleville around 7 p.m.
Crews arrived and found thick smoke coming from unit 101 on the first floor, with one person unconscious and unresponsive, pulled from the apartment.
The Essex County Prosector’s Office Spokesman Robert Florida confirmed that the male victim was pronounced dead at nearby Clara Maass Hospital.
Fire officials are looking into the cause of the fire at this time.
The Newark Housing Authority advised family members to check on residents while their staff checked conditions on the scene.
Residents were evacuated from the building and sent to 900 Franklin Avenue as a temporary shelter while firefighters extinguished the small fire.
Officials said as of 9:45 p.m., all occupants were back inside their apartments.