Man killed in Jersey City house fire, woman injured after jumping from second floor
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- An early-morning house fire in Jersey City is under investigation after a man died and a woman was injured.
Fire officials said it likely started on the first floor of the home on Stegman Street near JFK Boulevard at around 6:50 a.m. Monday and quickly spread to the entire house, trapping people inside.
Video shows the home was fully engulfed. The roof collapsed, which officials said made the fire more challenging. Crews were still putting out hotspots Monday afternoon.
The fire also damaged the house on the left and the church on the right.
A relative of the victims told CBS New York her step brother was trapped on the second floor and firefighters pulled him out, while her niece jumped from the second floor to get out and was injured.
"I was just walking up the street to go to the store. I came back, there was a fire," the woman said.
"She came out limping from the side, blood streaming down her face," neighbor Cherelle Gaskins said about the woman who jumped.
"The male was removed from the second floor by the firefighters. In a lifeless condition, he was transported to the hospital and he did not make it," said Jersey City Fire Chief Stephan Drennan.
Officials did not immediately release the victims' names.
"The gentleman that lives there, it's hard for me to talk about. But we've been neighbors 27 years. They brought him out, they were trying to resuscitate him and stuff. I don't know what happened with him," said Jean Gaskins, whose home next door was damaged. "I heard popping noises and something between the alleyway. The fire was coming towards our window."
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, fire marshal's office and arson investigators were on the scene.
