photos courtesy of Boyd loving’s Facebook page
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A multiple alarm fire destroyed a 3-story mixed use (commercial/residential) structure located at Bagelicious 19-23 North Broad Street, Ridgewood on Sunday night, 04/05. Numerous fire departments from Bergen and Passaic Counties assisted Ridgewood Fire Department in extinguishing the conflagration. At least one (1) residential occupant of the building was rescued by firefighters and transported to a nearby hospital by ambulance. Ridgewood Police, Ridgewood EMS, Ridgewood Emergency Services, and Ridgewood OEM were all represented by personnel at the scene.
Mediterraneo Restaurant was also lost along with Bagelicious.
Village of Ridgewood Mayor Ramon Hache made the following statement ,”Our first responders wrapping up a long night. Thank you to our Fire, Police, EMS and OEM. Amazing job all around. Also, thank you to the first responders from Allendale, Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Hawthorne, Ho-Ho-Kus, Mahwah, Paramus, and Waldwick. And thank you to Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco for his leadership and being there to provide his expertise and support. Please let’s keep the displaced residents, the property owners, the impacted businesses and their employees in our thoughts and prayers. We always come together to help each other. ”
Other Fire Departments that assisted, Paramus Fire , Glen Rock Fire , Waldwick Fire , Ho-Ho-Kus Fire , Midland Park Fire , Oradell Fire , Mahwah Fire ,Hackensack Fire and Twp of Washington Fire .
Ridgewood Police, Ridgewood EMS, Ridgewood Emergency Services, and Ridgewood OEM were all represented by personnel at the scene… isn’t that overkill when Paramus Fire, Glen Rock Fire, Waldwick Fire, Ho-Ho-Kus Fire , Midland Park Fire, Oradell Fire, Hackensack Fire and Twp of Washington Fire all assisted. If this isn’t a public service announcement for shared services when 12 different groups were represented at one fire?
Did anyone notice the need for more water pressure?
The FD asked for more pressure. How are we going to manage the high density housng?
and what about the impact of the ginormous garage on water pressure! the whole town will be in ashen ruins because we put up a garage!
I noticed the FD request for more pressure and thought the same thing . . . how will will we have adequate water pressure with the addition of all of these apartments? And this was a Sunday night at 9pm . . . what happens if a fire breaks out at peak.
ask Paul Aronsohn
Amazing to have a fully paid fire dept with 2 stations and yet every building that catches fire burns to the ground.
Bill these new building owners for the cost of a pumping station and make
The owners prepay or NO C of O
THEY wont share rent increased so
Let them pay now
But they were there within minutes with 12 different agencies represented… thankfully no one was injured. This looks like unsuccessful overkill. #sharedservices
You mean James Bombace, the disgraced former Village employee who lost the Village a $3.5 million award because he harassed and bullied FF Kevin Reilly so badly in a whistleblower lawsuit?
Do they know where it started…?
Is it too early to rule out arson….??
Mr Anonymous do you have any fire experience or maybe a fire science degree?
Why are you anonymous to scared to post your name?
Guys, don’t point fingers here. Nobody wants to see a building burn up like that. Obviously, everyone on the scene did the best they could to effect the best possible outcome. Instead, we should say THANK YOU to all those who helped out. #RidgewoodStrong
Shared services is the answer.
I’m surrounded by armchair quarterbacks, housing specialists, water pressure experts, fire experts and political pundits. Yet these are probably the same people that cleaned out the toilet paper shelves for a respiratory ailment.
Remember those buildings were hundred years old. Can you imagine how dry they were
My comment was not meant to point fingers.. My point is the fact that people want to question the response and hide behind anonymous.. I was in the fire service for 37 years and commend the job done by the Chief and all of the first responders. And this will be my last post.. I have no time to deal with Chickens.. BYE BYE
Ridgewood Police, Fire and E.M.S, as always, did a wonderful job! Especially in these trying times. The Village of Ridgewood should be extremely proud of their First Responders. Great job once again team!!!!!
It wasn’t just 12-different groups of fire fighters. There were many other non-involved companies on heightened alert to cover any other events that might arise in the region at the time of this fire. It’s called mutual aid.
BTW, I have been informed of a circumstance at these buildings regarding fire escapes blocked by window air conditioners. THAT is an owner violation, even though it’s the tenants who install them, the owner must be aware of this hazard and address it properly.
No loss of life is a win. The insurance will provide the owner with two or three new buildings capable of greater net income is a win (for the owner). Everyone comes away happy. Right?
Whomever made the following comment doesn’t know the truth,
You mean James Bombace, the disgraced former Village employee who lost the Village a $3.5 million award because he harassed and bullied FF Kevin Reilly so badly in a whistleblower lawsuit?
https://www.njemploymentlawfirmblog.com/judge-reduces-35-million-retal/
The Village did not lose a 3.5 million dollar award and the Chief never harassed or bullied Firefighter Reilly. The above link provides all of the relevant details about this case.
In reference to the overkill comment: First of all, I have the utmost respect for Military, Dispatchers,Police, Fire ,EMS and OEM Personnel. Overkill? In the event our Military was not staffed, we would loose the protection that they provide, protecting this great country.
Like so many situations, this fire was far from overkill. Situations at hand:
The structures being so close and connected, Truss Roofs, construction of structure, age of structure, victims in need of being rescued, preventing the spread of fire, and this list goes on….
You would not want to face the loss of an entire block or more. Fire personnel face a lot of life threatening and personal injuries to themselves while doing their best to preserve life and property. When they enter a structure fire to perform a rescue and extinguishment they are faced with temperatures above 2000 degrees. This takes a toll on a firefighter. Their air packs only last so long and when encountering conditions as such, their air packs will last less time due to the stress on their bodies. Once these fire fighters come out and new team will enter the structure and the firefighters that came out will go to be rehabbed by EMS. This will continue throughout. There are TWO OUT teams. There are fast teams who enter the structure in the event a fire fighter is trapped or lost. This list could go on and on. In the Ridgewood Fire situation, they all did an excellent job. In addition to all the personnel at the scene. Some departments were covering Ridgewood Fire Houses in the event that another emergency occurred. This is called Mutual Aid. NOW do you still think this was overkill?
So the Village lost a lawsuit and paid FF Reilly $500,000 because he was harassed and bullied in a whistleblower case against his superiors, including James Bombace?
Shared services make sense. Too many chiefs, not enough Indians.
FF Reilly was a cancer in the FD. The FD is better off without him.
Wow! A beloved Ridgewood businessman, who has always been so generous to the community, loses his business and another business is lost (not to mention the people who lost their homes) and these are the comments?? Shame on all of you. I’m so glad no one was injured. Thanks for all you do Kem and let’s hope you are up and running soon.
Look at Jimmy “the bully” Bombace starting a knife fight while the house is on 🔥 !! Now 8 years on from him costing the Village $500,000 in a bullying and harassment lawsuit filed by whistleblow FF Kevin Reilly and that fat troll is still throwing bombs 💣 from behind his computer screen in his basement in Florida instead of just enjoying his $100,000 Village pension… what a troll!
Sad 😢
We loved that place, a Ridgewood institution.
Thankfully no one was hurt.
Charlie Slime, a guy who hasn’t lived in town or the United States for the past 8 years, is so obsessed with what Village Employees earn and their benefits that he wastes his time crying and complaining about it here. Any normal person that moved out of town would forget about what’s going on in town and focus on their new community. But not our Buddy Slime, He hides behind his computer in the United Arab Emirates lying with just about every word he types. Talk about being Demented, Charlie Kime is the poster boy for that…..
All I can say is we love the putting How are Sanitation cans at the curb. It’s working out just fine. My Neighbors said it will never happen, well it’s happening. Keep up the great work.
tax gal ..be careful what you gush for..
some genius will carve out two jobs for kids and make us permanently pile our stinking garbage out onto the front curbs including July August September heat waves -then watch the Rats explode ..it’s likely coming To the New(ark) improved Ridgewood.
tax gal you sound like a real dope. garbage at the curb doesnt cost any less. Its the bloated school budget that costs money. and despite everyone being home the lazy fucks leave the cans out all week instead of retrieving them. go back to nyc
as a former aux fire man from the ridgewood civil defence the ridgewood f.d. still stans tall good job i dont know what the man power is to day we would have had help 40 plus years ago to keep safe. yes some of us old timers are still around . as always
as a former aux fire man from the ridgewood civil defence the ridgewood f.d. still stans tall good job i dont know what the man power is to day we would have had help 40 plus years ago to keep safe. yes some of us old timers are still around . as always