New Jersey Firefighters Rescue Woman From House Fire Moments Before Ceiling Collapses

UNION, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Firefighters rescued an elderly woman from a raging blaze just seconds before a ceiling collapsed at a home in Union, New Jersey early Wednesday morning.

Neighbors said they heard an explosion around 4 a.m. and then saw flames pouring out of the two-story home at 318 Ohio St.

"I woke up to a boom, it shook the house, the boom was so intense," neighbor Tanya Smith told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck. "By the time I got down the stairs the house was engulfed."

Fire officials believe an oxygen tank in the home exploded and set off a three-alarm fire, prompting a huge response from crews in Elizabeth, Kenilworth, Springfield and Union.

A man who lived at the home was able to escape on his own, but Union Fire Capt. Henry Sisbarro and his team had to crawl into the first floor to get the elderly woman out of the burning home.

"We went and grabbed her, did a quick search of the rest of the building...As we came out, the ceiling in the first floor came down," Sisbarro said. "I felt the heat on the back of my neck, we got out and that whole floor was involved in fire at that point, so within 20 or 30 seconds."

Neighbors had nothing but praise for the firefighters.

"The firefighters did an awesome job getting everybody out and securing the two houses on both sides," neighbor Natalie Davis Williams. "They wake up in the middle of the night and just go right to work. I'm a little emotional about it because I've never ever actually seen a fire."

The woman is being treated for smoke inhalation at a nearby hospital.

Two adjacent homes were badly damaged.