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Officer Nicholas Spangenberg forced his way into a first-floor apartment in the the smoky Radio Avenue building and found the 56-year-old woman unconscious on the floor.
He, Officer Jason Mitchell, and Detective Aniello Schaffer carried out the woman, who police said suffered 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns.
Another mother, seeing other officers below, tossed her son to them out the second-floor window of a smoke-filled apartment.
Detective Matthew Ford and Officers Stephen Hurtuk and Matthew Garzone caught and comforted the boy.
Secaucus firefighters got his mother out, along everyone else in the building.
The burned woman was listed in critical but stable condition at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.
Although the fire wasn’t considered suspicious, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Regional Office Arson Task Force, the Secaucus Police Detective Division and the Secaucus Bureau of Fire Prevention were investigating, just in case.
“At a time when some of the public sentiment surrounding police officers is negative, I think it is important to highlight the heroic actions of these officers,” Police Chief Dennis Miller said in a statement.
“Every day, our officers put their own lives and safety on the line to help and save others while serving this community. We are grateful for their heroism….I couldn’t be prouder.”
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DRAMA ABOVE NJ TURNPIKE: New Jersey Turnpike traffic whizzed below as two East Brunswick police officers struggled with a distraught would-be jumper who pleaded with them to let him go.
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