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2 Firefighters Injured, Dozens Displaced In Massive Bayonne Blaze

BAYONNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Two firefighters were hurt and dozens of people were left homeless after a massive fire in Bayonne overnight.

The blaze broke out around 1 a.m. Saturday at a three-story building on Avenue C and 20th Street that houses a laundromat and 14 apartments filled with families.

"At the beginning, we just thought that it was done and it just kept coming back and coming back," witness Lisa De Jesus told CBS2's Magdalena Doris.

Fire officials said the two firefighters were hurt when debris hit them as they were trying to keep the flames from spreading.

"And the ambulance was rushing out with them and there was so many cars in the way, the didn't have a way to get out so they just brought them to the sidewalk and got them out," De Jesus said.

The firefighters were rushed to the hospital, but are expected to be OK.

All of the tenants made it out unharmed, but the fire damaged the 14 apartments, leaving 45 residents displaced.

"Nobody brought nothing out, everybody just ran out for their lives," resident Yvette Cintron said.

Some families early Saturday morning were staying at the Bayonne Ice Center.

"I think my house got destroyed," a boy named Jonathan said.

"We lose everything," his mother said. "Everybody was sleeping, the laundromat was closed at that time. I don't know what happened."

The Red Cross said it has set up a shelter for the 45 displaced residents at Bayonne High School.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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