Officials: 2 women dead in Bloomingdale, N.J. house fire
BLOOMINGDALE, N.J. -- Two women were killed when a fire tore through a New Jersey home earlier Tuesday.
It happened in the Passaic County town of Bloomingdale. CBS2's Christina Fan spoke to neighbors.
Chopper 2 showed the burnt shell of the two-story home decimated by flames.
Dan and Elaine Bush were the ones who called 911 after seeing thick smoke rising from their neighbor's yard at around 7 a.m.
"All of a sudden we see flames coming out of the back of the house, maybe 10-15 feet high. A few minutes later out of the front porch, the same way," Dan Bush said.
Dozens of firefighters rushed from nearby towns to Hamburg Turnpike near the Pequannock River, dousing the flames that grew more untamed with every passing minute.
Witnesses said it took more than two hours for first responders to get the upper hand.
"I was praying nobody was in the house, but I was also praying it wasn't going to jump into the woods," Elaine Bush said.
"There was a huge crash and, apparently, that's when the back of the house fell out," Dan Bush added.
All morning, nervous neighbors awaited news if there were people inside and if they escaped unharmed.
The Passaic County Prosecutor's office is now handling the investigation. A lot of unanswered questions still remain, including the cause.