Last year, Hillsdale inspectors came upon a one-story house that had been jigsawed into seven living areas, three on the first floor, four in the cellar, separated by makeshift walls made of plywood or hanging sheets. Inspectors found 16 mattresses, exposed wires, and dead smoke detectors. In a makeshift room, under a double bed, a police officer accompanying inspectors found a young boy hiding. He was perhaps 7 years old. He spoke no English.
Officials call such dwellings death traps.
In the last two years, several northern Bergen County homes, with more than a dozen immigrants each, have caught fire. During inspections of overcrowded dwellings, mattresses have tumbled upon Blankenbush, the Westwood fire official, when he has opened closets. He has seen apartments divided into numerous cubicles, and makeshift ceiling slots for storing mattresses. The owners know about these dangerous conditions. They look the other way.