Family Rescued From Burning Building In Newark; Dozens Of Residents Displaced
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A mother and her two young daughters were in critical condition late Friday, after a fire ripped through their Newark home.
As CBS2's Sonia Rincon reported, the flames were so intense that the victims were not able to make it out. Three others were also injured, and dozens were displaced.
The fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. in a multi-family home on Bergen Street and quickly spread.
"The whole right side of the building was just torched," one witness said.
Smoke alarms and shouting woke up the neighbors.
Fourteen-year-old Jason Velez and his family made it out of their apartment on the second floor, but he said the family on the third floor needed help.
"They told us to get out -- a lot of smoke; a lot of fire -- so when we came out the whole roof was on fire," Velez told CBS2's Rincon.
Velez and his family made it out of their apartment on the second floor, but the family on the third floor needed help.
"The people upstairs, it was too much for them. They couldn't get out, and two of the kids passed out. One of them got burned in the forehead, the mother passed out too," Velez said.
Witnesses said a mother and her two children had to be pulled to safety by firefighters. Other residents were pulled out the front door.
"They climbed up; rescued a little girl," said Shamir Works, who watched from across the street. "Climbed down that way, then they came down. They went up, they knocked down the door, they went up, came down with a second child and an adult female and they rescued her, resuscitated her, put her on the stretcher and took them all off to the hospital."
"They was like, passed out because of the smoke," another witness told 1010 WINS' Rebecca Granet.
The mother and her two children, ages 4 and 9, were taken to the hospital in critical condition, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said. The children's father also made it out alive, but was injured.
"They were conscious when they left scene," said Newark fire Chief John Centanni. "Some of them were brought back to consciousness on the scene."
Two firefighters were also treated for minor injuries.
"It was an aggressive interior attack to get in to try to get these people out," Centanni said.
Firefighters kept working as the fire spread to the two attached buildings and damaged two more.
In all, a total of five buildings were damaged in the blaze.
The American Cross late Friday was assisting nine families – with a total of 39 people – who were displaced by the fire. The families all received emergency assistance in the form of temporary lodging, food, clothing and comfort kits with personal care items.
At least 16 children were among those displaced.
It was clear late Friday where the fire started, but the back of the building where firefighters made the rescues was the most severely damaged. Neighbors said the kitchens are in the back.
The cause remained under investigation late Friday.