Why Older Paterson Rowhomes Spread Fire Faster
Last updated 2025-03-20
Balloon-Frame Construction, Explained Plainly
Many of Paterson's rowhomes and two- and three-family houses were built using balloon-frame construction, a method common before roughly 1940 where the wall studs run continuously from foundation to roof with no fire-stopping in between. That open stud cavity acts like a chimney inside the wall itself, letting fire and smoke travel vertically far faster than in a modern platform-framed house with blocking between floors.
Shared Walls Change the Whole Equation
In a detached single-family home, a contained fire generally stays contained. In an attached rowhome, a shared wall gives smoke and sometimes flame a direct path into the unit next door, which is why fire departments treat a rowhome fire as a multi-unit incident from the start. This is common across South Paterson, Hillcrest, and the Totowa Section, where blocks of attached housing sit close together.
What This Means for Peoples Park and Similar Blocks
Density compounds the balloon-frame issue. A fire in a Peoples Park rowhome can affect adjoining units even when the visible flame damage stayed in one structure, because smoke and heat traveled through the shared stud cavities and attic space connecting the row. Every adjoining unit deserves an assessment, not just the one that visibly burned.
The Eastside Park Historic District Is a Different Case
The Eastside Park Historic District holds about 1,000 homes built starting in 1888, many of them detached or semi-detached single-family houses rather than dense rowhome blocks. The construction era still means older wiring and original materials, but the fire-spread risk profile differs from the attached rowhome stock closer to downtown, which is worth knowing before assuming every older Paterson home behaves the same way in a fire.
What This Means for Cleanup Scope
Because smoke travels through open stud cavities and shared walls, a restoration crew working an attached-building fire has to assess adjoining units for smoke and odor, not just the unit where the fire started. Skipping that step leaves a neighbor with lingering smoke damage nobody documented. Getting the full scope right the first time, across every affected unit, saves everyone a second round of cleanup later.