WATERFRONT ARSON BLAZE

Tuesday, July 08, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A two-alarm high-rise fire sent smoke streaming from 10th-floor windows of a Jersey City hotel under construction yesterday, and it was no accident, Jersey City fire officials said last night.

Jersey City Fire Department arson investigators "found nothing that could have sparked the fire accidentally and in their process of elimination, they determined it was arson," said Fire Director Armando Roman of the fire at the Westin hotel on Washington Boulevard at Sixth Street.

No injuries were reported.

Among the clues was a sheet of cardboard that appears to have been lit from both ends, Roman said.

Firefighters, including the specialized high-rise unit, responded to the 22-story building on a 1:08 p.m. alarm and called a second alarm five minutes later.

The second alarm was called because of the size of the building and the threat the fire would spread, as well as the need for additional personnel to ensure the numerous construction workers at the site were safe, Roman said.

The fire was under control at 1:27 p.m. but not before a large area of carpeting on the 10th floor had been burned, Roman said. Firefighters left the scene at 4:34 p.m.

"Right now we have no reason to believe it was a disgruntled employee or a union problem, it could be anything," Roman said last night. "Arson investigators are going to conduct a vigorous investigation."

UPDATE: Arson on the 10th floor

by Michaelangelo Conte
Monday July 07, 2008, 6:32 PM

The two-alarm fire this afternoon at the Westin hotel under construction at Sixth Street and Washington Boulevard on the Jersey City waterfront has been ruled arson, Fire Director Armando Roman has told The Jersey Journal.

The fire apparently started in a large area of carpet on the 10th floor. Pieces of cardboard appeared to have been lit to set the blaze, Roman said.

No injuries were reported.

Get the full story in tomorrow's Jersey Journal.