By Jeff Goldman
nj.com
CLIFTON, N.J. — A tractor-trailer crashed into a commercial-residential building in Clifton early Monday, heavily damaging the structure and leaving two people with minor injuries.
The USA Truck tractor-trailer carrying dog food struck Toptown Limo Ride on Kensington Ave near the Route 3 east exit ramp at about 2:20 a.m., Clifton Fire Chief Mike Rowan said.
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Crews used a ladder to remove a resident who lives in an apartment above the business and a hydraulic rescue tool — the “jaws of life” — to remove the truck driver, the chief said.
The front of the truck remains lodged in the front of the business at 9:15 a.m. and might take hours for crews to remove it as the uninhabitable building is unstable.
“There will be some dismantling and assessing of the structure because the structure is in a sense supported by the truck,” Rowan said Monday. “It’s a dangerous kind of operation.”
“I don’t want to speak too soon but it might involve a major remodel or a demolition because (the building) took quite a hit.”
Police said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
While Route 3 is open, ramps to and from Passaic Avenue are expected to be closed for most of the day, Clifton police said.
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