Camden 12-Alarm Fire Burns Factory; Destroys 10 Homes, Injures Three Firefighters

CAMDEN, N.J. – At least three firefighters were hurt battling a 12-alarm inferno that consumed an abandoned tire factory in Camden during the height of Thursday’s scorching heat.

It took firefighters six hours in scorching heat to put out the flames at the former Reliable Tire Co. building.

The fire started Thursday afternoon at the vacant factory and then spread to nearby homes. At least 10 homes were damaged.

With massive firefighter layoffs in Camden, most of the crews came in from outside the city.

Three firefighters were taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

There’s a growing dispute between firefighters, who say water pressure hampered their ability to battle the blaze, and city officials downplaying the problem — despite a news release last week urging citizens not to open fire hydrants because it was causing a water shortage.

The firefighters’ union also says departmental cutbacks limited the second wave of responders arriving on scene until the fire had already spread.

Flames leapt right across the street in some places.

Now, some residents were left with the clothes on their backs and buckets to pick sift through the rubble for their belongings.

Cameras spotted others risking potential harm to grab still hot metal scraps to turn in for recycling income, even as their hands were blackened by the heat. Authorities were struggling to keep the blocks-wide fire scene off limits to scavengers.