A fire was raging at a storage warehouse in North Bergen, fed by wind gusts of up to 30 mph. Several firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze, which broke out at about 6 a.m. near the West New York border, said North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue Capt. Jonathan Rush.
''It's just a bad day with the wind and the cold,'' he said.
Firefighters also rescued several homeless people who had been inside the building when the fire broke out, but they did not require medical attention, he said.
About 100 firefighters had surrounded the burning building, whose roof quickly collapsed, and poured water on it from all four sides. The fire had not been brought under control as of 8:15 a.m., Rush said.
The fire closed one heavily traveled road nearby and caused traffic jams on others. Smoke from the blaze was visible in Manhattan and north Jersey.
High winds also fed the flames at an apartment building fire Thursday morning in Newark. No injuries were immediately reported in the blaze. About 47 of the building's 52 apartments were reportedly occupied at the time of the fire, which broke out at about 2:30 a.m.
The tenants were evacuated to a nearby school. The fire was declared under control shortly after 6 a.m.
The cause of both fires remained under investigation.
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