By STEPHEN KALMAN
On July 16, 2010, at 1005 hours, the Hackensack Fire Department (HFD) Communications Center simultaneously received a central station fire alarm and several telephone alarms reporting some type of collapse at 300 Prospect Avenue. A first-alarm assignment of three engines, one ladder, and one rescue (15 members) was dispatched under the command of Deputy Chief Kenneth Kalman.
On arrival (1006 hours), Kalman observed that a grade-level area approximately 200 feet × 75 feet on the B side of the structure had collapsed about 30 feet below grade level. The collapse pile was a two-story, below-grade parking area that surrounded this structure. The structure itself is an 18-story high-rise 230- × 70-foot Class 1 (fire resistive) building and is one of the many residential high-rises along this avenue. The underground garage entrance, which is the C side of the building, interconnects to 310 Prospect Avenue. This building is directly behind 300 Prospect; they share a common driveway. This residential structure, which also fronts onto 3rd Street, is a six-story building consisting of a fire resistive garage “pedestal” topped with multiple wood-frame floors that runs a block long.
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