http://www.northjersey.com/news/Fire_destroys_Hackensack_home_two_injured.html?scpromo=1Fire destroys Hackensack home; two injuredSunday March 17, 2013, 10:59 AM
BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
STAFF WRITER
The Record
HACKENSACK — An early Sunday morning fire destroyed a Park Street home, severely damaged another and sent two people to the hospital with injuries, authorities said.
Firefighters on the scene of the fire on Park Street in Hackensack Sunday.
TARIQ ZEHAWI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Firefighters on the scene of the fire on Park Street in Hackesack Sunday.
A 28-year-old firefighter from Engine Company 2 hurt his back after slipping and falling on icy ground, and a woman who was being evacuated from a nearby house suffered an asthma attack after inhaling smoke, said Justin Derevyanik, spokesman for the Hackensack Fire Department.
Both were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Their conditions were unknown on Sunday morning.
Authorities believe the blaze started in a first-floor bedroom at 433 Park Street and spread to 435 Park Street, Derevyanik said.
Firefighters, alerted to the fire at 4:56 a.m., arrived to find thick smoke billowing out of the 2½-story wood frame house and the flames already leaping to the second home, also a 2½ story wood house, he said.
The homeowners, asleep in the house’s second floor when the fire started, roused the second-floor tenants, and they all escaped, Derevyanik said.
Firefighters fought the three-alarm blaze for about an hour and a half, a task made difficult by windy and icy conditions, Derevyanik said.
About 55 Hackensack firefighters, along with companies from neighboring Teaneck, Bogota and Ridgefield Park responded, he said.
The house where the fire started is expected to be demolished later on Sunday, he said. The charred roof and attic had collapsed onto to the top floor.
The second house also sustained heavy damage to the top floor. The siding melted from the heat, Derevyanik said.
The house didn’t have working a smoke detector, Derevyanik said. The city fire department has a program that provides free smoke detectors to residents who cannot afford them, he said.
Four families — a total of 11 people — were displaced. They were at the Hackensack Civic Center on Sunday morning, receiving assistance from the American Red Cross, he said.
Email: superville@northjersey.com
