By Ron Leir
Observer Correspondent
HARRISON —
Fire struck again in Harrison this week, this time taking a life.
Harrison Fire Director Harold Stahl said a call came into the dispatch center Monday, April 8, at about 12:30 p.m. reporting a fire in the rear of 209 N. Second St., a two-sto-ry residential structure.
Harrison Fire Department units responded, along with fire personnel from Kearny and Jersey City, Stahl said.
“Kearny aided us in ventilation work with their ladder truck and we’re very thankful to them,” Stahl said.
Stahl said the fire was confined to the second-floor rear apartment.
“There were no firefighter injuries, but I can confirm there was a civilian fatality,” Stahl said.
He dcclined to provide further details.
Because of the death, Stahl said that Harrison “is getting ready to turn over the investigation to the state Division of Fire Safety, along with the Harrison Police Department and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.”
Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Gene Rubino said a neighbor found the victim, a woman in her 70s, lying on a landing outside her second-floor flat near the kitchen area and called emergency 9-1-1. The woman was later pronounced dead. An autopsy is awaited.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.