A fire tore through a Morningside Road home in Verona this afternoon, which some neighbors said had been a continuing source of headaches for the neighborhood, despite being vacant for several years.
Officials on the scene said no one was injured in the blaze, which started around 1 p.m. Monday, at the height of Memorial Day barbecue time.
At the scene, the street was packed with emergency vehicles on mutual aid calls from all over West Essex to provide support to the Verona Fire Department, including Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, and North Caldwell. Onlookers of all ages crowded the sidewalks outside the police tape. The air was filled with a thick, chemical-laden odor mixed with the smell of charred wood as the house smoldered, and firefighters moved in and out of the house.
Neighbors opened their homes and yards to the dozens of firefighters at the scene, providing cold water to drink and some friendly words of encouragement as they took breaks from battling the blaze. Members of the Verona Rescue Squad were on hand, ensuring the firefighters did not become dehydrated in the muggy, 90-plus degree heat.
Neighbors of the 34 Morningside Road home reported seeing flames shooting out of the windows and front door, melting vinyl siding on a neighboring house "like candle wax." Essex County Arson Squad members were seen combing through debris in the back yard, where the fire reportedly started.
Other neighbors reported hearing an explosion or an explosion-like sound from the rear of the property. The house appeared charred on both floors, and dark, large scorch marks could be seen on the facade of the home near windows and doors.
Tim Rodner, who lives across the street from the scorched home, said he was in the backyard preparing his grill for a Memorial Day cook-out when a construction worker doing work at a nearby home came onto his lawn and said he saw smoke.
Rodner said at that moment, he turned to face his neighbor's house, and saw dark, brown smoke and debris emanating from the house.
"Five minutes after I spotted the smoke, flames were shooting out of the front door."
Charred bits of debris littered lawns and sidewalks for blocks around the burned home.
Lisa Freschi, a resident of nearby Hillside Avenue said she was returning home from a Memorial Day beach weekend with her family when she saw the firetrucks on Morningside.
"I saw the road was blocked off and my neighbor called me to ask if I had seen the fire. I still have my suitcases in the car," she said.
Verona Fire Chief Pat McEvoy, who was busily coordinating the multi-town effort via an SUV-mounted radio, said at the scene that the fire had been brought under control, and that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Neighbors of the house said it had been unoccupied for as many as five years leading up to the fire, and that just recently it had been rented out to an acquaintance of the owner. Some complained the home had been poorly maintained.
"That house was not fit for human habitation," said one neighbor who asked not to be identified. Others called the house "A junk yard", and "A disaster waiting to happen." Neighbors' complaints ranged from everything from rats in the backyard to garbage piling up.
"As soon as I heard a house on this street had caught fire, before I even saw, I knew it was [34 Morningside]," said one neighbor.
The fire was brought under control about 90 minutes after it started. The home's owner, who showed up at the scene and stood by as the emergency workers did their jobs, had no comment.
Check Patch for updates as they become available.
Kerri Arman
10:50 pm on Monday, May 30, 2011
This is the worst case of imbalanced, 'gutter reporting' that I have read for some time.
Since you chose a career as a reporter, Mr Nesi, then you should be prepared to present a balanced and accurate report to the public you supposedly serve. This article quotes a few, small-minded local residents and bares no reference to the outstanding character of the owner himself, he and his family's life long contributions to the Verona community, and the core reason for the house's periods of vacancy being the death of his parents. The house was clean and mostly empty, and not at all in the state you describe. You should be ashamed of the inaccuracies in this article and more empathetic to a fellow individual's misfortune!
Dallas Green
3:19 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Kerri,
You can not be serious? You must be related to the owner or a family friend. For anyone to say that this home wasn't an eye sore and a danger to the community is either completely uniformed or just plain "Stupid"! I am going to given you the benefit of doubt here and just say you are uniformed.
Now lets set the facts straight.
1. 34 Morningside Road has had at least 5 to 10 violations brought against it by neighbors in the past 20 years. FACT. Go to town hall and look it up! Hell the neighbors to the one side had to move because the town refused to enforce ordinances against the owner
2. There was a rat infestation in the backyard and it was caused because the owner's neglect to maintain a pond that he built
3. A commercial vehicle sat in the owner's driveway for over 15 years when town ordinance requires residents to park commercial vehicles off their property. For the past 5 years that van was completely undrivable and an absolute eye sore. How many of your neighbors would enjoy looking at a dirty white van with 2 flat tires on your property?
Dallas Green
3:26 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
4. There was a young couple who rented the home in 2010. An agreement was established between the owner and tenant that they would have discounted rent in return for the tenant fixing up the house. The tenant vacated the home after a few months when they realized the house was in such bad repair and beyond livable.
5. Anyone who has eyes and has passed 34 Morningside Road once in the past 20 years would all agree it was the eye sore of the block. This is not something fabricated by "small minded residents" This is FACT. As far as the house being clean....Lets just they that conflicts completely with past tenants, neighbors, and the brave firefighters and emergency responders accounts!
Dallas Green
3:43 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
And now I am going to take issue with statement,
"This article quotes a few, small-minded local residents and bares no reference to the outstanding character of the owner himself, he and his family's life long contributions to the Verona community, and the core reason for the house's periods of vacancy being the death of his parents"
I feel sorry for the loss of his parents. However, if I am not mistaken he loss them a few years ago. But with that said the death of a family member does not give anyone the right to put others at risk. The inside was a mess. You could see it from the street through the windows. Grass was always overgrown, a blue tarp was used to plug huge holes on the top of the garage, the white van was filled with garbage, a abandon jacuzzi was left exposed to the elements and was constatly full of standing water, the list goes on and on!
And one more thing.....Since you brought up his parents lets be real here. It was those very contributions by his parents is the core reason why the town did not aggressively enforce codes on his home.
The owner and the town are equally wrong here! If ordinances were strictly enforced this event could have been avoided. Luckily no one got hurt.
Hopefully the owner will come to his senses and sell. Those so called "small minded residents" for the most part have kept quiet about this for years. The quotes you read above are a product of years and years of frustation.
Morningside Residents
10:37 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Kerri is married to the owner, look up her name.
Joe Average
6:58 am on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Ms. Arman, I think you are being a bit unfair to Mr. Nesi! It is not the fault of the reporter that the neighbors have an unfavorable opinion of the property. While the condition of the house is pertinent to a fire story, the character of the owner is not. I fail to see what is inaccurate here - is the location incorrect? the time? the fire companies that responded? The fact that you don't agree with the quotes doesn't make Mr. Nesi a bad reporter or the article inaccurate.
Don
11:00 am on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Joe, I think what Ms. Arman had a problem with was what she saw as a bias being overlaid on the basic fact that there was a fire. I think that there always is a problem when reporters cover a story both in that they may not get a representative sampling of opinions, and also they themselves can pick and choose which opinions they report. To some extent, you also did the same thing, by using the term "the neighbors" instead of "the quoted neighbors" or whatever. (basically, you implied that these particular neighbors were the final word on the situation.) Important: I personally know absolutely nothing about this situation, quite possibly, Chris was right on all this, but he may also have been wrong.) He and many here know that its been shown all around the country that vacant homes are often dangers to their communities - they attract squatters and thieves. Owners should do their best to ensure their properties are rented out, even if it means accepting lower rents for them in order to get a stable, long term tenant. IMO, sellers and real estate brokers should also realize that the market has fallen and accept lower prices than we saw even just four or five years ago in the interests of communities and their stability.
Dallas Green
4:13 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Mr. Nesi reporting was completely accurate. He spoke to at least 15 to 20 neighbors. On top of that there is a paper trail of complaints against this owner and home. As a whole people do not feel comfortable going on record and especially when they witnessed one neighbor try to move the world to get the town to act against this owner. I mean what do you expect. Clearly there was a sense on this block that someone was protecting the owner, because just look in everyone's driveway.....How many abandoned runned down commerical vehicles do you see?
Answer: 1 - At 34 Morningside Road!
Don
11:05 am on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What can people do when there is a vacant home in their community and they want to help get it sold or rented to a good future neighbor?
Kerri
12:59 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
I believe the article should have been focused on the core issue, the fire, which by all accounts appears to have been caused by the electrical surge that went through the entire town at 8:30am, igniting a fire in the backyard of the house. Therefore, it could have been anyone's house, not just the one that doesn't live up to some people's aesthetic expectations.
The article also caused unnecessary 'added' trauma to the owner. So much for a supportive neighborhood community!
Dallas Green
4:03 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
"Unnecessary Trauma to the Owner"
The owner did that to himself!!!!
Think about it for one second. By all admissions this owner has not lived on this block in 10 or so years. Most of the families on Mornignside are realitively new. Having arrived in the late 90s early 2000s. Therefore they have really no clue who he is, yet not one person who was interviewed for this article or was at the scene felt bad for the owner. Makes you think????
And while we are on "Unnecessary Trauma" what about the neighbor whose side of the home is completely burned. Now if you use this term to describe their situation I would understand.
Dallas Green
4:24 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
If the "fire" was the core issue I would agree 100%, but you and I both know that this isn't just about the fire. Put aside your family ties or friendship for one minute and live in reality. Yes, it was an electrical fire and yes it could probably happen to anyone, but for you to sit here and not say that the condition of the house did not contribute to the severity of the fire is a flat out lie.
Once again I ask you....At least 30 to 40 neighbors in a 15 house radius were outside when the owner arrived. People who have lived on the block for a year up to 35 years were all there. How many went up to him offered him an ounce of comfort?
ZERO.
If it is 1 or 2 neighbors who is a "small minded resident" I could understand, but a whole block. Time to look in the mirror!
BBOP
3:54 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
REALLY--WERE ANY OF YOU THERE? I WINESSED A HUGE EXPLOSION FOLLOWED BY NEIGHBORS RUNNING FROM THEIR HOMES WHILE CARRYING THEIR CHILDREN TO SAFETY. I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE SEEN SUCH A HORRIFYING SIGHT. THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS DID AN AMAZING JOB IN PREVENTING WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A HOLIDAY DISASTER. WHILE THERE ARE COMPLAINTS UPON COMPLAINTS ON THE RECORD--THIS CATOSTROPHY COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. AS ONE PERSON POSTED THAT THE CAUSE WAS A RESULT FROM THE ELECTRICAL STORM AND IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ANYONE--ANSWER THIS QUESTION--IF YOUR ELECTRIC MEETS CODE STANDARDS--COULD IT HAVE BEEN YOUR HOUSE? IS UNDER CODE STANDARDS--HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE RENTING OUT PROPERTY WITH THAT TYPE OF VIOLATION? WHO SHOULD BE HELD ACCCOUNTABLE? PUBLIC RECORDS WILL SHOW THE COMPLAINTS FILED FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THE DEATH OF PARENTS DOESN'T ALLOW ONE TO HAVE A FREE PASS FOR PUTTING AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD AT RISK.
Morningside Residents
10:30 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Responding the the unfairness allegations above:
Live on the block, saw the whole thing play out all day, watched the reporter that wrote this article, and talked to basically the entire neighborhood as everyone who was in the area at the time was outside watching this.
Every single person said basically the same exact thing, as reported above, and if anything the reporter toned down the comments quite a bit. Seems like the town has been unresponsive to complaints, and if the outside of the house is any indication the owner had given up on even basic maintenance for some time now. Not sure what the town has done over the years, but visibly the situation hasn't changed.
The van mentioned in the comments is a good example of the inaction here, at least a clearly visible one. Its sat in front of the house's garage for at least 5 years now with flat tires and commercial plates. This is a violation of township codes (look them up yourself on the verona website). Many complaints have been made over the years, but no apparent action has been taken. Didn't even move it for the firefighters, probably can't move it without a tow truck. No one want's broken down cars being kept street visible in their neighborhood, and most people don't want commercial vehicles in residential driveways, so towns put codes in place. In this case why weren't they enforced?
Morningside Residents
10:34 pm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011
P.S. If anyone bothers googling Keri Arman's name above, she's the owners wife. I'd imagine there might be some bias in her comment...
Ted
7:53 pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2011
I am highly offended by Mrs. Arman's comments above. I have been a Morningside Resident for 10 years and to categorize me and my family as "small-minded" absolutely infuriates me. I had to watch that house go unattended, unmaintained, and neglected for years. When I walked by the property with my children they referred to this home as the "Morningside Haunted House". It truly looked like a home out of a horror movie.
I ask you this Ms. Arman, would you and your husband allow a home to look like 34 Morningside Road on your block in Verona? I can't imagine that the answer would be "yes" to that. Your husband is very fortunate that only one or two neighbors filed complaints over the years. You and I both know that every house from South Prospect intersection to the Lakside Ave at one time had a thought or came close to calling the town on that home.
Kerri, I understand he is your husband , but even your love for him can't blind you from the truth that his home on Morningside Road was an absolute disgrace.
Finally you talk so much about how wonderful his parents were to the community and maybe that is true. But if the way he kept his home on Morningside Road is any indication on how his parents raised him they did a TERRIBLE JOB!
PLEASE DO ALL OF US A HUGE FAVOR AND SELL THIS HOME TO SOMEONE WHO IS GOING TO RESPECT THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
Morningside Residents
8:45 pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2011
There is a Verona township council meeting Monday June 6th at 7pm at the 600 Bloomfield address (the police station and library complex).
I refuse to believe the town council, especially the newer members, would ignore this situation after it deteriorated so badly. I propose anyone interested attends the meeting and simply asks "Why was nothing done, and what will be done going forward?"
JL
11:32 pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2011
We know the house owner for several years and he is the most genuine and helpful person you ever can call a friend. A fire is a sad moment of truth, with loss of personal belongings and dealing with the aftermath of such situation. We wish that a certain respect is provided to any human being in this town regardless of any short comings. We understand that the house was not the best looking one on the block, but we think it is time too look ahead for a new beginning.
Ted
7:50 am on Thursday, June 2, 2011
"Most genuine and helpful person you ever can call a friend"
If he is truly genuine and helpful then finally show those qualities to the residents of Morningside Road and do the right thing and sell this property. I know there are no guarantees that a good neighbor will replace him, but it can't be much worse then what the block endured for 20+ years.
He will get my respect once he sells!
susan dey
8:55 am on Thursday, June 2, 2011
Who where the people who lived next door to him and moved away! Someone said they lived there for more than 30 yrs.