40 seconds to disaster: Shocking video shows start of NJ warehouse fire now in 4th day

🔥Fire still smoldering days later, forcing 50 residents from homes

🔥Schools closed as officials weigh safety, air quality concerns

🔥Businesses and a music studio destroyed, owners vow to rebuild

BELLEVILLE — Three days later, firefighters are still working on a block of businesses destroyed by fire that started Sunday afternoon at a mattress warehouse.

The fire has closed schools in the municipality for the third day in a row.

Security video from inside the warehouse where the fire started, posted by PIX 11, shows it took 40 seconds for a small fire to cover the entire warehouse floor. The fire started in a corner. Once a nearby worker notices, he starts moving boxes as another worker pours water on the fire.

Mayor Michael Melham told News 12 that the fire may have been started by sparks from a welding project. The ATF is leading the investigation into the cause of the fire, Melham told CBS New York.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is supporting air quality testing. Melham told News 12 the air quality appears to be OK as of Wednesday morning.

Belleville warehouse fire still not out

Mayor Michael Melham told News 12 there is “a way to go” before the fire is completely out and that 50 people are still unable to return to their homes.

The mattress warehouse has been torn down along with several businesses, including Legacy Boxing Club, whose owners vowed to rebuild. They created a GoFundMe campaign to help that effort.

"The fire took everything. Legacy Boxing Club, our home, our safe haven, our foundation, was lost in a devastating fire. The walls are gone. The equipment is gone. But our purpose is still standing," the club said online.

An acclaimed music studio owned by Steve Evetts was also destroyed by the fire. He's also determined to rebuild, according to his Instagram.

"The floor apparently collapsed last night, sending the entire contents of my studio into the burning pit below. 30 years of collected gear, and memories, gone in a matter of hours. But it’s just stuff," Evetts said.

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Schools closed amid ‘complex’ safety concerns,

Classes at Belleville public schools were cancelled for a third day on Wednesday as Superintendent Erick Alfonso says he is balancing all factors in an "extremely complex and evolving situation."

Alfonso said he recognizes the “concerns and challenges” for working parents created by another day of cancelled classes. Still, he said there are several factors related to the fire that make it difficult to decide about schools until the last minute.

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