Demolition Begins at Millburn Avenue Store Damaged by Fire

There was plenty of rubber-necking by the eastbound traffic on the Short Hills end of Millburn Avenue Thursday. Drivers were slowing to watch as a demolition crew worked to take down the were at Millburn Ave. building close to Springfield's border that was destroyed by persistent blaze on Jan. 10.

Workers from Yannuzzi Demolition were razing the building. Yannuzzi was one of the companies that worked at the World Trade Center following Sept. 11, 2001.

The demolition work was expected to last through Saturday, but Bruce Pollock, a Millburn Fire Department fire investigator, said the bulk of the work would be done on Thursday and Friday.

As of early afternoon fire investigators had yet to get inside the building so they can complete their review in determining what caused the fire. No cause for the fire has been determined, and fire investigators were last in the building on Monday.

Pollock said earlier this week the investigators need to get to the basement and first floor at the rear of the building, where the bulk of the fire was located. Pollock said Thursday he anticipated investigators would get into the building in the afternoon, but it might not be until Friday.

"(The demolition crew has) to do everything in a deliberate manner, and everyone needs to be safe in doing their work," he said.

Fire investigators and firefighters will remain at the scene throughout the demolition to maintain the integrity of the scene. Also at the scene were Millburn police, including the department's fire investigator.

The westbound lane between Campbell Road and Glenwood Drive will be closed today and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Traffic is being diverted down Campbell Road to Meadowbrook Road and back to Millburn Avenue via Glenwood Drive.

There is no parking along the eastbound lane when the lane is closed. The owners of the stores along the eastbound side of the road are reminding people there is municipal parking available behind the line of stores. There is access to the parking along Millburn Avenue between the line of stores and the former Saks Fifth Avenue building. There is also a driveway on Short Hills Avenue.