1 dead, 5 firefighters hurt, 18 families displaced by overnight fire at East Orange apartment complex

EAST ORANGE, N.J. -- A woman was killed, five firefighters were hurt and more than a dozen families were displaced by a fire Friday at an apartment complex in East Orange, New Jersey.

An investigation into how the fire started is underway after crews battled in intense heat for most of the morning, CBS2's Nick Caloway reported. 

Flames lit up the night sky just after midnight and ripped through the 4-story building on Prospect Street. 

"I looked down the alleyway and the whole back of the building was already lit up in flames," an eyewitness said. "So at that point I yelled, 'Fire! Fire!' to alert people to try to come out of the building." 

"It was kind of a little bit scarier because we were on the 4th floor," said Nicole Molina, who was asleep when a relative burst inside to wake her and George Harris up. 

"She opened the door, like 'boom!' 'There's a fire, there's a fire, there's a fire!'" Harris said. 

The fire escape was already engulfed in flames and the stairway inside was full of smoke.

"We kind of just made the split decision to take the elevator because it was luckily still working," Molina said. 

Other people who live in the building and neighboring ones scrambled to get out, too. 

"Oh wow, it was terrible. We had to get out our building, came down and I just broke down right there. Heard a little boy say, 'Help me, help me,' and you heard 'pop, pop, pop.' I don't know. It was just real bad," said Joy Pierce.

A man who lives nearby said he was watching television when he thought he heard gunshots.

"I ran to my window, looked out the window, I seen people running up the street to Prospect Street, and it was like, 'There's a fire, there's a fire in the back of the building.' So I went on my fire escape to look out the back of the building. That's when I seen the building engulfed in flames," he told CBS2's Zinnia Maldonado.

Firefighters from East Orange and neighboring towns raced to contain the fire. Flames and smoke poured out for more than eight hours - well passed daybreak. 

An elderly woman on the third floor was killed, five firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and 18 families were displaced, according to officials. 

"We're going to continue to do everything we can do, as a city, to assist these families that are still out of housing," Mayor Ted Green said. 

A temporary shelter was set up just down the street at Edward T. Bowser Elementary School, where the Red Cross is helping the families find lodging. 

Officials did not immediately release the name of the woman who died.

We're told a minivan parked behind the building caught fire and it spread. East Orange officials will decide if the building needs to be demolished. 

In:
• East Orange