On the Cover
Eleven businesses were destroyed by an early-morning fire in a shopping center in Pompton Lakes, NJ, on Oct. 27, 1997. The blaze involved a row of stores covered by a bowstring truss roof and separated by two large anchor stores, each also with a bowstring truss roof. The fire apparently started in a ceiling light fixture and was thought to have been extinguished by an employee. The fire department was called 55 minutes later, after the fire had spread. Two hundred firefighters from 14 departments were needed to extinguish the fire. Additional coverage in Progress Report on page 76 of this month's issue.
