Off-duty Firefighter Keneyada Thompson was at a nearby Dunkin Donuts for his morning coffee Tuesday when he noticed smoke coming from an Orient Avenue two-family home.
Thompson, 45, raced around the corner and into the 2.5-story building, where people had already started to evacuate. With Kareem Howe, a NJ Transit supervisor who had been outside 84 Orient, by his side, Thompson located the fire in a bathroom inside the second-floor apartment.
“A NJ Transit guy came in with me and he ran back out to get an extinguisher,” said Thompson, a 21-year veteran. “After making sure everybody was out, I searched every room upstairs, then came back out and waved in the first crew.”
Thompson then went next door to make sure everyone was evacuated from 82 Orient Ave., which had also caught fire.
“Got to pretty much stay low,“ Thompson said about going into a fire with no equipment.
None of the residents or firefighters were injured. Howe, the NJ Transit supervisor, was sent to Jersey City Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Sam Springsteen, son of Hall of Fame rocker Bruce Springsteen, was among the firefighters who responded to the blaze. It was his first fire call since he and 14 other new firefighters were sworn in last week.
Thompson reported the fire at 7:40 a.m. before evacuating both buildings. By 7:50 a.m., it had risen to a third alarm, but was contained within an hour. Chief Steve McGill said the fire is not considered suspicious, but the cause is still under investigation.
“Off-duty or on-duty, we are always there to help the community,” McGill said. “He (went) in there without any gear on, which is incredible, it’s tough.”
McGill said Thompson remained on scene until the first crew got there. He directed them to the fire’s location, then he reported for duty.
“(It) was key for us because when you’re getting on a scene and it’s that chaotic, we don’t know where (the fire) is,” McGill said. “His help greatly helped us put that fire out that much quicker.”
After clocking in for his shift, Thompson returned to the scene to relieve some of the firefighters after the fire was placed under control.
Some 18 people were displaced by the three-alarm fire. The American Red Cross is assisting the families.
Shymehrah McCord and her 8-year-old daughter, who live in the second-floor apartment of 82 Orient, were standing outside the building Tuesday a few hours after the fire. McCord had been inside to retrieve some items from her home, but nothing is salvageable, she said.
McCord said she was woken up by a knocking at her door by someone alerting her to the fire next door. At the time, her building had been been affected by the fire.
“I just grabbed my kid and just ran out the house,” McCord said. “We came outside and that is when we saw the fire.”
McCord said she is doing alright after the fire, but has yet to figure out where she will go from here.
“I can’t believe this,” McCord said. “To be woken up like that.”
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