- Firefighters responded to a four-alarm fire Friday in New Jersey, home of the first Singer sewing machine factory in the United States.
- Some of the industrial buildings had already collapsed when a city spokesperson provided information about the incident.
- Video from the scene shows the building engulfed in flames and firefighters working to extinguish the blaze.
Firefighters set off four alarms Friday to extinguish a blaze at the New Jersey industrial park that once housed the nation's first Singer sewing machine factory, city officials said.
A passerby reported the fire at an Elizabeth building around 5:30 a.m., Elizabeth city spokeswoman Ruby Contreras said in an email. Contreras said there were no reports of anyone entering the building and no reports of injuries. Part of the building had already collapsed.
This large industrial building is located south of Newark Liberty International Airport and across the strait from New York City's Staten Island borough. Huge plumes of smoke could be seen rising from Manhattan.
8 firefighters injured, dozens evacuated in New Jersey wildfire
According to NJ.com, in 1873, the Singer Sewing Machine Manufacturing Company purchased 32 acres of land on the property and established a factory that produced iconic sewing machines for more than a century.
On January 5, 2024, a warehouse fire in Elizabeth, New Jersey caused smoke to rise south of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and smoke spread across the southern New York skyline. New Jersey firefighters are battling a four-alarm blaze, officials said. The historic former Singer sewing machine factory building. (AP Photo/Craig Rattle)
At the time, this was the world's largest single-workforce factory. The building was sold in August for $1 million, according to public records.
New Jersey firefighters completely extinguish two large fires
Video from the scene shows the building engulfed in flames and firefighters surrounding it.
Contreras said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
