Fair 67°
Police & Fire
Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze
Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze Eight firefighters were hospitalized with heat exhaustion Monday after rescuing 20 or so residents – several of whom were trapped – during a roaring Monday afternoon blaze that ravaged two homes and damaged others in Passaic. Seven of the firefighters are from the city and the eighth is from Wallington, Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, he said. Firefighters rescued five people from two of the Passaic Street homes and got 15 out of another after the blaze broke out around 2 p.m. at 74 Passaic Street, the mayor said. Flames raced th…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
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…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
70-Year-Old Bank Robber Gets Five Years For Wayne, Pequannock Holdups 70-Year-Old Bank Robber Gets Five Years For Wayne, Pequannock Holdups
70-Year-Old Bank Robber Gets Five Years For Wayne, Pequannock Holdups A 70-year-old confessed bank robber from Little Falls was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for holding up banks four days apart in Wayne and Pequannock. Wayne detectives, with help from the FBI and the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, captured Philip N. McGrantham as he returned home in a rented Nissan Altima that a law enforcement source told Daily Voice was used earlier that day in the Sept. 30 robbery last year of a TD Bank branch on Valley Avenue. He was carrying the proceeds of the holdup at the time, authorities said. McGrantham struck a deal with prosecutors and admitted t…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Investigators Probe Overnight Fire That Gutted Little Falls Steakhouse Investigators Probe Overnight Fire That Gutted Little Falls Steakhouse
Investigators Probe Overnight Fire That Gutted Little Falls Steakhouse Investigators were probing an overnight fire Saturday that destroyed a Little Falls restaurant. The blaze apparently broke out in the kitchen at Rare Steakhouse on Main Street around 3:30 a.m.  Firefighters had it knocked down in under 45 minutes. Fire officials declared it under control around 4:50 a.m. No injuries were reported. An investigation to determine the cause was continuing, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Little Falls Fire Chief Jack Sweezy Jr. and Little Falls Police Chief Steve Post said in a joint release. They asked that anyone with information that cou…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft
Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft Maywood police snared a whopping 15 people in the mailbox theft of what turned into more than $40,000 worth of checks. Police responding to a citizen’s call at 3:23 a.m. last Aug. 19 found a mailbox pried open, and its contents removed, at the intersection of West Pleasant and Wyoming avenues, Detective Sgt. William Phayre said Tuesday. “Over the course of the next several weeks, more than a dozen victims reported fraudulent activity involving checks that were placed in the mailbox during the days leading up to the theft,” Phayre said. “Many of the checks were altered and deposited into va…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco