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A candle in a second-floor bedroom may have ignited the blaze in the mid-century home on Grove Street off Mozart Street between Railroad and Paterson avenues shortly before 5 a.m., responders said.
A detector woke sleeping residents, they said.
A trio of responding police officers "entered the home to find smoke coming from a bedroom door [that] was also hot to the touch," the East Rutherford Fire Department wrote in a post.
The officers ushered the residents to safety before firefighters doused the flames with a quick attack that limited the damage.
Several things worked in everyone's favor.
"While the contents of the bedroom received smoke and heat damage, it remained isolated to the room because of a closed door," the fire department noted. "Always keep bedroom doors closed at night and if there is a fire, close the door behind you.
"Working smoke detectors also played a key factor. The sleeping occupants were alerted to the smoke and fire by a sounding detector."
An adult and two children later showed up at an urgent care center in Lodi complaining of smoke inhalation, responders said. They were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with injuries that weren't considered serious.
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