Officials: Newborn Resuscitated, Man Critical After Fire Rips Through Jersey City Building

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A man and 2-month-old child were fighting for their lives late Wednesday after a 4-alarm fire ripped through an apartment building in Jersey City.

The fire chief says the newborn had to be resuscitated after the blaze broke out in the basement of the three-story building on Grant Avenue around 7 p.m.

Officials say the flames quickly spread up.

"I ran back in the house and said 'let's go, grab whatever let's just get out'," fire victim Dwayne Shurn said. He rushed his three children from their top floor apartment when the fire broke out.

"See massive black smoke coming out, wires popping," he said. "So we all run across the street like, let's get away from this building."

Shurn says his baby nephew had difficulty breathing as the thick smoke spread but is now recovering at a local hospital.

A man found in the basement was also rushed to the hospital, where he remains critical. Fire Chief Steven McGill says he was found with another adult male who fled the scene.

A firefighter and another resident suffered minor burns and cuts. The cause of the fire, which officials say appears suspicious, remains under investigation.

In:
• Jersey City