Firefighters revive infant, man critically injured after fire rips through Jersey City home
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- Firefighters in Jersey City are being hailed as heroes for their role in saving the life of an infant caught in a burning building.
However, one man inside the home continues to fight for his life.
More than 80 firefighters responded to the blaze that began just after 7 p.m. Wednesday at a three-story multi-family home on Grant Avenue.
When units arrived, there was heavy fire in the basement and a lot of debris which made the efforts more difficult.
The fire got into the walls and spread throughout the multi-family home.
"I went in the hallway and looked over the balcony, I seen massive smoke, not dark but white smoke like it's just starting," one resident said. "I went back in the house, got my family and said let's go, we gotta get out of here."
A man was pulled out of the basement and taken to Jersey City Medical Center in critical condition with life-threatening burns. They say he had burns over 20 percent of his body.
There was also an infant in the home who was not breathing. First responders were able to revive the 2-month-old baby, who was taken to the hospital. He is breathing on his own and is expected to be OK.
"The guy was coming out and he was stumbling and stuff, and I'm asking him, 'What is going on?' The lady on the first floor told me, 'Just get your family and get out of here, don't ask any questions.' I went upstairs, got my family and left," said Seamus Tomlin, the infant's father.
Black smoke poured out of the building and filled the sky above.
It was smoke alarms that in this fire, saved lives.
"I heard it in my sleep and just wake up, and came out and tell everybody 'fire, fire fire,'" said resident Tessa Perry.
"We heard the alarms, everybody was yelling in the hallway to get out, get out. My husband yelled get out, and I got out," said resident Nicole Bourne.
The fire got into the walls and spread through the pipe chases, spreading into all the upper floors and the cockloft.
Firefighters tried to drown the fire with water, but it took hours to get it under control.
Some residents left so fast they didn't have time to get a jacket. "I just lost everything, I gotta start all over," Bourne said.
At least eight families were displaced by the fire and are being assisted by the Red Cross.
Investigators are still looking for one person who appears to have fled from the scene.
----------
