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Video: Remains Of Elderly Teaneck Couple Found After Furious House Fire

TEANECK, N.J. -- Authorities found the bodies of an elderly Teaneck couple killed when a fire roared through their home hours early Sunday, multiple law enforcement sources told Daily Voice.

Flames quickly consume the Teaneck home.

Photo Credit: homer218
Moments after the remains were discovered.

Moments after the remains were discovered.

Photo Credit: Cecilia Levine

Gerald and Rosanne Ryan, both 81, were trapped by flames that blew through the 2½-story house on Sherman Avenue just after 6:35 a.m.

Excavators had to shore up what was left of the home before being able to comb through the wreckage for their remains.

"The exact cause of the fire is undetermined due to the extensive fire damage," Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Monday. "However, the fire does not appear to be suspicious in nature."   

Two police officers who tried to rescue the couple before evacuating neighbors were treated for smoke inhalation, Deputy Township Manager Dean Kazinci told Daily Voice.

The neighboring house on the west side sustained severe enough damage to render it temporarily uninhabitable, Kazinci said. The Red Cross was arranging shelter and provisions for the family living there, he said.

The neighboring house to the east also sustained damage but not as serious, Kazinci said.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Arson Investigations Unit unit responded to investigate, while the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence.

A Hackensack ladder team and Englewood FAST team also responded to the fire, with mutual aid provided by Bergenfield, Bogota and Ridgefield Park.

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