Elderly Woman Dies, Others Critically Injured In Early Morning Paterson House Fire
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- At least one person is dead and several others hurt after a fire ripped through the home of a family of nine in Paterson on Wednesday morning.
The blaze broke out just after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Trenton and Maryland avenues.
An ambulance responding to an unrelated call, drove by the burning home and alerted authorities of the blaze, CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported.
1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reports
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Paterson Public Safety Director Glenn Brown said the two EMTs sprang into action, kicked in the door and began the rescue operation before first responders got to the scene.
It took nearly 45 minutes for firefighters to put out the fire, which officials believe started in the living room on the first floor.
An elderly woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Loved ones said she lived at the home with her husband and daughter's family, including two grandchildren.
"To me she was like a grandma, the only grandma I ever met, the only one I had," family friend Sharon Vanegas said. "It's shocking. We don't have words, we're in disbelief."
Four people were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital. Three are in critical condition, officials said.
One person, who initially had no pulse and was unresponsive when pulled from the blaze, was revived by emergency crews at the hospital, 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reported. Another person was seriously injured after jumping from the third floor.
Three firefighters responding to the blaze were also burned.
Officials said there were no working smoke alarms in the home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
