Bayonne police and firefighters responded to the scene after receiving multiple calls around 10:20 a.m. about a house fire at at 19 East 15th St.
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Upon arrival, first responders saw heavy smoke billowing from various windows while flames trapped one person on the third floor of the house.
"There was heavy fire on arrival extending mainly to the building on the right side. So that's basically two buildings on fire on arrival with the victim hanging out," said Keith Weaver, chief of the Bayonne Fire Department.
Firefighters quickly raised a ladder up to a third floor window and helped the man get down and out of the house. Emergency responders transported the victim to a local hospital for minor smoke inhalation.
"We do a lot of rescues for trapped victims from time to time, and we certainly train often. It's a manpower, intensive operation and requires quick thinking and the quick placement of the ladder and a lot of teamwork. Our firefighters did an amazing job today of rescuing that trapped victim," Weaver said.
With the help of Jersey City fire crews, firefighters managed to get the four-alarm fire under control about an hour later.
The heat from the fire was so intense that the buildings on both sides of the home were also damaged, one of them with melted siding.
14 people are now displaced after their multifamily homes were deemed temporarily uninhabitable after the fire. The Bayonne Office of Emergency Management and the Red Cross are assisting those impacted.
"It requires a lot of reinforcement -- that's why the extra alarms were called to bring more personnel to the scene, and it requires teamwork and that's what our firefighters did," Weaver said.
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Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.
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