5-year-old girl, grandmother die after raging Little Ferry house fire

The blaze began late Tuesday with a series of explosions and appeared to spread from the area of a garage before it consumed the three-story home at 119 Washington Ave., witnesses said. Police and firefighters acted quickly to get people out of the building, and one officer caught the 6-year-old when she jumped out of a second-story window, her family said.

Seven of the nine residents of the home were injured or killed in the fire, which began at 11:30 p.m. with at least three explosions, one after the other. The most serious injuries were to those who lived on the third floor, where the 5-year-old lived with her mother and grandmother. Three police officers who went inside the home to help people get out suffered minor injuries.

Update:  Police identify victims in Little Ferry fire that killed 5-year-old girl, grandmother

Firefighters found the 5-year-old in the third-floor apartment, and CPR was performed. She then was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead, authorities said. They said firefighters had pulled the grandmother from a window, where she had been dangling, and that she had been taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with severe burns.

Police Chief Ralph Verdi said Wednesday night that the grandmother had succumbed to her injuries. The 5-year-old’s mother suffered compound injuries when she jumped from a window, authorities had said. Verdi declined to provide the identities of that family. One fire victim, who was not identified, remained in critical condition Wednesday night at Hackensack, a hospital spokeswoman said.

All five members of another family that lived on the second floor survived the fire by jumping out of a bathroom window, authorities said.

'Nobody could breathe'

Photos:   Little Ferry house fire

David Lucero, 43, who had back surgery several years ago, urged his wife and three daughters to jump before taking the plunge himself, breaking a shoulder and suffering cracked ribs, relatives said. He remained at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck on Wednesday night after other family members, who suffered less serious injuries, were released.

“I didn’t think we were going to get out,” said Dalia Lucero, 17, one of his daughters. “I thought the whole house was just going to explode.”

She said that she and her 6-year-old sister, Joanna, had been in a room together, drifting off to sleep, when they heard explosions. Her family could not get to the front door of the apartment because of heavy smoke, she said.

“Nobody could breathe or see,” she said.

Joanna was uninjured because a police officer was there to catch her, said her aunt, Miriam Lucero, who lives in another part of the borough and was letting the family stay with her.

Shiva Singh, who lived on the first floor, said she had heard a series of three explosions that appeared to come from the garage area. “Glass was exploding,” said Singh, who was staying at a local hotel Wednesday night. “I heard a man yelling, ‘Help, call 911.’Ÿ”

She tried to call 911, she said, but the phone was dead. As she walked with a cane to the exit from her apartment, she said, firefighters had arrived. She told them somebody upstairs was screaming.

Outside, she said, she saw 6-year-old Joanna in the arms of a neighbor who comforted her as she cried over concerns about the family dog, Coco. The Lucero family said Coco had escaped from the burning house. Singh said the same neighbor had offered her a place to stay until she was able to find shelter Wednesday morning.

Verdi said that Lt. Chris Boel of the borough police had been the first to respond after hearing a popping noise while on patrol near the residence at 11:30 p.m. He called for help as a neighbor ran to a nearby firehouse and pulled the firebox alarm to summon firefighters.

Boel and two other officers, Dominick Verdi, the chief’s son, and Angelo Ratto, went into the burning home to rescue residents and suffered smoke inhalation, the chief said. Dominick Verdi also twisted his knee. All three were treated at a hospital and released.

The fire was under control around 2 a.m., Little Ferry Fire Battalion Chief Bill Riedel said. Eleven other fire departments also responded.

Ernest Mathews, who lives across the street, said he had heard an explosion, but had thought it was firecrackers. Then he heard a second one and saw flames at the house, he said. Keenly aware that children lived in the home, he called 911 and ran outside, where he handed an officer a flashlight as police broke down a gate to rescue residents. He said he had helped a woman, whose face was bloody, cross the street, and that another man had been on the street unconscious.

A representative for Public Service Electric and Gas Co. said an inspection established that there was no gas leak at the house.

The Red Cross provided emergency assistance to two of the families and offered assistance with shelter.

Little Ferry Mayor Mauro Raguseo praised the first responders as heroic. “This is an incredibly sad day for the borough of Little Ferry,” he said.

Staff Photographer Tariq Zehawi contributed to this article. |Email: dazio@northjersey.com