Overview
- Flames began around 7:22 a.m. in a third-floor unit at Post Road Gardens, an 11-story senior housing complex on Avenue A.
- Firefighters deployed two handlines as the incident rose to two alarms and brought it under control by 8:17 a.m.
- Irene Clark, 82, was found unresponsive in a bedroom and was pronounced dead shortly after 9:30 a.m. at Bayonne University Hospital.
- Three residents and eight police officers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and four additional residents were treated at the scene.
- The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force, Bayonne Fire Department, Bayonne Police and the county prosecutor are investigating, and most occupants were able to return to their apartments.