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Police & Fire
Responders Rally For Popular Garfield Police Officer Who Lost Cats, Home In Fierce Fire Responders Rally For Popular Garfield Police Officer Who Lost Cats, Home In Fierce Fire
Responders Rally For Popular Garfield Police Officer Who Lost Cats, Home In Fierce Fire YOU CAN HELP: Responders, friends and community members are rallying to assist a Garfield police officer whose home was destroyed by a raging fire that killed her two cats and displaced her family and five others. No one was in the Van Winkle Avenue residence that had been home for more than 30 years to four-year Garfield Police Department veteran Rebecca Schmidt and her parents and brother when the blaze broke out around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Brother Adam Schmidt rescued the family dog, but his sister’s two cats perished in the fire, which engulfed their home and another and severely damaged…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
UPDATE: Cats Killed, Dog Rescued In Raging Garfield House Fire (PHOTOS, VIDEO) UPDATE: Cats Killed, Dog Rescued In Raging Garfield House Fire (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Update: Cats Killed, Dog Rescued In Raging Garfield House Fire (Photos, Video) UPDATE: A dog was rescued but two cats died in a raging fire Saturday night in Garfield that engulfed one home, destroyed another and damaged a third, displacing six families, authorities said. Garfield Police Sgt. Pedro Gongora, Officers Sebastian Tyburski and Noah Murphy and Detective Sgt. Marc Amos arrived shortly after 7:30 p.m. to find a Van Winkle resident fleeing his home out the back with his dog, Capt. Richard Uram said. The first house soon was fully involved. The blaze quickly ravaged a neighboring home and spread to the third. Fourteen mutual aid companies responded to assist…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
PHOTOS, VIDEO: Multi-Alarm Fire Engulfs Garfield Homes PHOTOS, VIDEO: Multi-Alarm Fire Engulfs Garfield Homes
Photos, Video: Multi-Alarm Fire Engulfs Garfield Homes UPDATE: A dog was rescued but two cats died in a raging fire Saturday night in Garfield that engulfed one home, destroyed another and damaged a third, displacing six families, authorities said. Garfield Police Sgt. Pedro Gongora, Officers Sebastian Tyburski and Noah Murphy and Detective Sgt. Marc Amos arrived shortly after 7:30 p.m. to find a Van Winkle resident fleeing his home out the back with his dog, Capt. Richard Uram said. The first house soon was fully involved. The blaze quickly ravaged a neighboring home and spread to the third. Fourteen mutual aid companies responded to assist…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Woman Charged With Burning Down Paterson Building Leaving 60 People Homeless Woman Charged With Burning Down Paterson Building Leaving 60 People Homeless
Woman Charged With Burning Down Paterson Building Leaving 60 People Homeless A 37-year-old woman on Thursday was accused of burning down a Paterson building that left four firefighters injured and 60 people homeless early this month, authorities said. It was unclear why Yanit Valdez, of Paterson, set fire to the building at 40 Cianci St., on Aug. 3, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Paterson Police Chief Ibrahim Baycora, and City Fire Chief Brian McDermott said. The blaze broke out on the upper floors of an attached three-story, wood-frame building and spread through the cockloft, blowing through the roof, shortly after 1 p.m. The fire quickly w…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Wind-Whipped Paterson Fire On Eve Of Mother's Day Burns 59 Residents Out Of Their Homes UPDATE: Wind-Whipped Paterson Fire On Eve Of Mother's Day Burns 59 Residents Out Of Their Homes
Update: Wind-Whipped Paterson Fire On Eve Of Mother's Day Burns 59 Residents Out Of Their Homes High winds whipped a roaring fire that tore through a Paterson neighborhood Saturday night, destroying five houses, severely damaging a sixth and displacing 59 residents. No injuries were reported in the Beech Street blaze, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. The Red Cross provided temporary shelter, food and clothing to the displaced. Fire officials who responded to the fire around 8:45 p.m. immediately called in a second alarm. What followed: In barely 10 minutes, three houses were involved and a third alarm was transmitted; A fourth alarm went out almost immediately afte…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hospital: First Critical NJ Patients To Receive COVID-19 Plasma Make 'Remarkable' Recoveries Hospital: First Critical NJ Patients To Receive COVID-19 Plasma Make 'Remarkable' Recoveries
Hospital: First Critical NJ Patients To Receive Covid-19 Plasma Make 'Remarkable' Recoveries The first two New Jersey residents to receive plasma transfusions for critical cases of COVID-19 -- a 63-year-old teacher and a 61-year-old old opera singer – were released from the hospital after making "remarkable" recoveries, Virtua Voorhees Health System announced. Their recoveries came as studies at several New Jersey hospitals explore whether the transfusions can help save coronavirus patients who are moderately or critically ill. Both Renee Bannister of Blackwood (Gloucester County) and Andy Fei of Mount Laurel (Burlington County) had been on ventilators in the intensive care unit at…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Firefighters Douse Destructive Passaic Blaze While Battling Water Issues Firefighters Douse Destructive Passaic Blaze While Battling Water Issues
Firefighters Douse Destructive Passaic Blaze While Battling Water Issues UPDATE: Water supply issues and downed power lines made things even more difficult Thursday morning for firefighters who doused a blaze that destroyed a Passaic home. Nine people were displaced in the Pennington Avenue fire, city officials said. No serious injuries were immediately reported. City firefighters found the porch of the 2½-story, wood-frame home fully involved when they arrived shortly after 8:30 a.m. Mutual aid companies found several dry hydrants as the fast-moving fire, which began at two alarms, quickly went to three bells and then four. The blaze forced firefighters to m…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
VIDEO: Paterson Multi-Family House Fire Displaces 16 On Easter Morning VIDEO: Paterson Multi-Family House Fire Displaces 16 On Easter Morning
Video: Paterson Multi-Family House Fire Displaces 16 On Easter Morning Firefighters put down an Easter morning multi-family house blaze that displaced 16 people in Paterson. No serious injuries were reported in the East 26th Street fire. It broke out on the second floor of the 2½-story wood-frame house shortly after 7:30 a.m. and immediately went to two alarms, responders said. Firefighters had the blaze under control within two hours, they said. Authorities were investigating the cause. The Red Cross was assisting the residents find food, shelter and clothing. MORE FIRE VIDEOS: DemonRacer2 (YouTube) ****** ALSO SEE: A 34-year-old Paterson police off…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Arson Investigators Charge Clifton Man In Fires Arson Investigators Charge Clifton Man In Fires
Arson Investigators Charge Clifton Man In Fires Arson investigators arrested a 25-year-old Clifton man Thursday and charged him with a pair of overnight garbage can fires on the same block, one of which spread to an adjoining home. Mario A. Palma-Sanchez remained held pending a first appearance Friday in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson on aggravated arson charges after surveillance images helped identify him, authorities said. Palma-Sanchez ignited two fires in trash cans the night of March 30 on Highland Avenue, one of which damaged an apartment and displaced a family, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
17 People, Three Dogs, Cat Flee Three-Home Passaic Fire 17 People, Three Dogs, Cat Flee Three-Home Passaic Fire
17 People, Three Dogs, Cat Flee Three-Home Passaic Fire Fire destroyed a Passaic home and damaged two others on Palm Sunday, displacing four families, including three dogs and a cat. EMTs treated a couple of firefighters at the scene, authorities said. No other injuries were reported. Firefighters found the first and second floors of the middle Summer Street home fully engulfed before the three-alarm blaze blew through the roof and spread to the adjoining homes. All 17 residents and pets got out safely -- among them, several children who fled in their socks, as well as three dogs and one cat, Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. "The proximity of s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Burned Firefighter Hospitalized In Newark Blaze Burned Firefighter Hospitalized In Newark Blaze
Burned Firefighter Hospitalized In Newark Blaze A firefighter was hospitalized with burns while battling a nighttime Newark blaze that damaged two homes. He was taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston Thursday night with wounds that weren’t considered life-threatening, fellow firefighters said. Responders found heavy flames between a pair of 2 ½-story wood-frame homes in the 200 block of North Street, one of which was vacant, shortly before 9:30p.m. The fire extended into the basement and the upper floors and cockloft of one of the homes, they said. Firefighters got the blaze under control in about an hour. The Red Cross te…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Arson Investigators Probe Clifton Fire Spree Arson Investigators Probe Clifton Fire Spree
Arson Investigators Probe Clifton Fire Spree Arson investigators Monday morning probed a trio of garbage can fires on the same Clifton block, authorities confirmed. No one was injured in the most recent blaze, a smoky 5 a.m. fire Monday that cleared a Highland Avenue home, authorities said. Firefighters quickly doused the blaze and vented smoke from the home with fans. The Red Cross tended to the residents. CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS

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by Jerry DeMarco