gas lines. workers never had a chance to shut off by the fire department ordered a retreat. gas that continued to fuel the inferno that destroyed so many people s lives. it was a terrific fire as everyone can see. a fire of this scope to have no loss of life and so many people displaced we feel fortunate. reporter: local leaders would not address our observations of the blue flames and the possibility the gas had not been properly shut off as firefighters are trying to battle this inferno. abc news, edgewater, new jersey. now a scandal at guantanamo bay. the captain in charge of the naval station has been relieved of duty. john nettleton is under investigation for having an affair with a civilian on the base. the woman s husband was found dead ten days ago. his body was found floating in guantanamo bay near the coast guard.
reporter: it didn t take long for firefighters to figure out they would not win this war as a tower of flames systemically blasted through apartment after apartment, crackling people s homes in to a million embers. it keeps spreading and spreading and spreading. i heard screams, explosions. sounded like a freight train. the air burning, it s scary. reporter: it started with a whiff of smoke at the avalon at edgewater. on the ground it was breathtaking. you can see the scope of how large this apartment is as a team from the hackensack fire department is here hosing down the building to try to keep the flames from spreading. this is lightweight wood construction and difficult to fight because of the collapse hazard. it collapses quickly and easily. doesn t give firemen much time to fight a fire in a building like this. reporter: making matters worse, obvious blue flames from