Cause of Washington Street Fire Still Undetermined

The cause of Sunday night's devastating fire was still undetermined on Monday morning, according to Fire Chief Richard Blohm, and the blaze was still under investigation. 

The fire—which started on the ground floor according to one eyewitness on the scene on Sunday—spread through the entire five-story building, causing the interior of the building to collapse. 

New Hoboken Farm, the grocery on the ground floor, as well as Treasure Island Jewelry, also located on the ground floor, seemed to be completely destroyed. 

Firemen were still putting out the fire around 11 a.m. on Monday and Washington Street, which still strongly smelled like smoke, was blocked off between Second and Fourth Streets. 

While it's unclear how many people were displaced exactly, the building consisted of eight condos, two on each of the four residential floors. At least one family was away on vacation and not home, according to a fire official.

Around 11 a.m. it was still unclear if there was any damage done to the building next door, a private school. Rescue teams were only inside on the lower floors of 300 Washington Street, the rest of the building was too dangerous, Blohm said. 

Three firemen were treated for injuries on Sunday, one for smoke-inhalation, one for knee problems and another for a broken hand, said City Spokesman Juan Melli on Monday. 

According to Blohm, 20 firemen were on call on Sunday night. One fire company was in Jersey City—where around 5 p.m. a five-alarm fire broke out—and had to come back to fight the Hoboken fire on Sunday. 

The building, which coincidentally is the building depicted on a novel about Hoboken, was declared uninhabitable, Melli said.