Ford Car Dealership Fire, Hackensack, NJ, July 1st, 1988

Summary

On July 1, 1988, a fire at the Ford Auto Dealership in Hackensack, New Jersey, took the lives of five firefighters when a bowstring truss roof collapsed. Just a minute prior to the collapse the incident commander had instructed the firefighters working on the interior to “back your lines out.” This message was not heard according to the Demers report due to defective fireground communications equipment. Debris from the subsequent roof collapse pinned three firefighters while two others escaped to an adjacent room. These two firefighters radioed for assistance but neither the incident commander nor the fire alarm dispatcher picked up the calls for help. By the time word was relayed to the incident commander from civilians picking up the calls for help on their scanners it was too late to effect a rescue.