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At 8:24 a.m. a fire started in a West 1st Street multifamily house, Fire Capt. Ryan Fitzsimmons said. Responders knocked down the flames within 30 minutes but the fire left extensive damage.
"The house is not hospitable," Fitzsimmons told Daily Voice.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the captain said.
Fitzsimmons said he was not sure how many of the 14 residents were inside the building at the time of the fire.
Felipe Carino, who said he lived on the second floor of the building, said the fire seemed to start from the basement.
Carino said he smelt smoke and grabbed his kids to get out of the multifamily house.
"It happened so fast," Carino said. "I tried to go in a second time but I couldn't because of the smoke. It was crazy."
Some of the occupants' property was saved because first responders made an "aggressive" first push to knock down the flames, Fitzsimmons said.
The Clifton fire and police departments, and the Paterson Fire Department, responded to the fire.
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