A second fire erupted at the Berkeley Square Apartments in Suffern early Wednesday morning, just hours after firefighters had left the scene of the first blaze. Suffern firefighters and other volunteers rushed back to the complex at 3:04 a.m. when flames started damaging another section of the building, roughly four hours after crews had cleared the first fire at 11 p.m.
Suffern Police Chief Clarke Osborn estimated that 25 to 30 people lost their homes between the two fires, with more than 20 apartments damaged to some degree. The second fire was on the second floor; firefighters from Suffern, Tallman, and Mahwah returned to the scene, and an estimated six to eight apartments were destroyed or heavily damaged. Many of the displaced residents stayed with family or were assisted by the American Red Cross.
The cause of neither fire was known at the time, and investigators were treating both as suspicious pending further review. The 10-building complex, built in 1962, includes 150 apartments.