2 Rescued, Officer Hurt In N.J. House Fire

EAST WINDSOR, N.J. (AP) -- East Windsor police say two people rescued Saturday from a burning duplex have been hospitalized along with an officer who helped save them.

Patrolman Ryan Ballard and Sgt. William Hanson responded to the two-story home around 8:35 a.m. and found 42-year-old Elray Hobbs Jr. inside on the lower floor.

As the officers led him to safety, he told them 69-year-old Beverly Hobbs was still on the second-floor. The officers then quickly found the woman and got her outside.

Ballard was taken to Robert Wood Johnson hospital in Hamilton, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and later released.

But the Hobbs -- who each sustained serious burns and had smoke inhalation -- remained at Capitol Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton. It's believed they are related, but further details were not immediately available.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

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