Firefighters Rescue Woman From Roof Of Burning Passaic Home

PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) -- Firefighters came to the aid of a woman who was trapped on the roof of a burning three-family home in northern New Jersey.

No residents were injured in the three-alarm fire, which broke out early Sunday in Passaic. But two firefighters were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation.

Passaic fire officials tell The Record that the fire began shortly before 12:30 a.m. in the basement of the Westervelt Place home and spread up through the interior walls. It was extinguished about four hours later.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

When firefighters arrived, they found the woman on top of the building with smoke billowing around her. She had climbed out of a third-story window to escape the growing fire, but became trapped on the roof.

Since they could not access the building directly from the street, firefighters brought a ladder to the side of the building. Firefighter Ruperto Alfaro climbed the ladder and rescued the woman.

``There was a lot of work that went into extinguishing the fire,'' Battalion Fire Chief Joseph Cazjer told the newspaper. ``The fire had spread to three different floors. Walls, floors and the roof needed to be opened at different locations because the fire kept popping up on us.''

(Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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