TRENTON — Power could be restored to the Luther Towers apartment building as soon as this afternoon following a two-alarm fire that knocked out the electricity and forced about 200 senior residents to evacuate, the building’s property management company said.
“We have contractors working over there right now,” said Abraham Philip, controller for Alma Trenton LLC of Long Island City, N.Y. “I think it is going to be (restored) later on today.”
He said that workers are putting a temporary fix in place while permanent repairs are made over the next few weeks.
No injuries were reported in the two-alarm fire, which damaged the building’s electrical system and left it without air conditioning, authorities said. More than 100 residents are sheltering at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School, the American Red Cross said.
The fire broke out around 11 p.m., and Trenton firefighters battled sweltering heat and a raging downpour while evacuating the 12-story high-rise. A water pipe leak caused an electrical short, sparking a fire in some wood items in the basement, and causing an electrical hazard that drove firefighters out of the basement.
Authorities called PSEG and to turn off the power, and all the residents were evacuated from the 12-story building through the stairs. They initially went to a church next door, then to two air-conditioned NJ Transit buses and finally to the elementary school.
Philip described the fire as “small,” and said contractors were hard at work on site.
This morning, about 100 residents were at Joyce Kilmer Elementary on Stuyvesant Avenue. Lyn Scott, Red Cross response manager for Mercer, Middlesex and Hunterdon Counties, said that her team was called in around 2 a.m. to set up the shelter.
The Rescue Mission of Trenton, the city’s homeless shelter, provided breakfast and lunch, and Aramark, the food service provider for city schools, delivered cold water and hot coffee this morning.
Resident B. Townsend was among those taking advantage of the air conditioning at the school late this morning. He said he appreciated the efforts of the Red Cross but was eager to return home.
“I’m used to having an apartment,” he said.
Scott said the residents helped in in the early morning hours as weary volunteers worked to set up the shelter, helping unpack a disaster relief trailer and set up cots for . The team was stretched thin operating a second shelter in Middlesex County for a Perth Amboy fire that broke out around the same time last night.
Standing outside of Luther Towers, resident Michael Evans said he was frustrated he was not being allowed back inside.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “It is a big inconvenience.”
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• Trenton 12-story senior apartment building fire forces evacuation of 200 residents
