EVACUATIONS: Child pulls fire alarm in county bldg.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City was evacuated and all prisoners were removed yesterday morning after an infant pulled a fire alarm, officials said.

The child was being held by the mother and reached over her shoulder to pull the fire alarm in a hallway near Family Court at about 10:10 a.m., a spokesman for the Hudson County Sheriffs Department said.

The building was evacuated and there was a large law enforcement response to the area. Newark Avenue was closed to traffic and the prisoners were quickly taken away on a bus, officials said.

The child's "mother was mortified," the spokesman said.

At 10:50 a.m., employees began to file back into the building. The Administration Building houses the county Superior Court and numerous county offices, including the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.