No injuries were immediately reported in the four-alarm fire, which broke out around 10 p.m. in the first-floor rear of a vacant 2½-story mixed-use building on Rosa Parks Boulevard.
Flames quickly rushed up through the building, collapsing the rear roof.
The fire spread to a three-story, multi-family house next door, displacing 10 people, authorities said.
The Passaic County prosecutor’s arson unit was investigating the cause.
Several neighboring towns assisted.
“Paterson's Bravest just fought a four-alarm fire in the 4th Ward and saved a neighborhood,” Sayegh wrote in a Facebook post.
Some of the drama was captured on A&E's "Live Rescue" program, broadcast nationwide.
VIDEO: Fireground Buff Network LLC
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