In a rare public rebuke of a fire department by a local elected official, Union City Mayor Brian Stack said he was unhappy with North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue's inability to extinguish a burning church steeple that then collapsed on Saturday, in the same wind-driven blaze that killed a 2-year-old boy in a nearby apartment.
"I'm not happy with the response by the fire department on the church," said Stack, whose city is one of five covered by North Hudson Regional. "It took more than 40 minutes to get water on that fire. I'm not criticizing the firemen, I'm talking about the supervision."bPhil Swibinski, a spokesman for North Hudson Regional, defended the department's response to the church fire, adding that it was remarkable the blaze did not do more damage, given the adverse conditions that morning: high winds; low water pressure due to a sustained firefight on two fronts,