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, Uram said.
The Red Cross aided the displaced families, relocating one of them, the captain said.
The Bergen County Arson Investigations Unit also was at the scene, along with the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, which collected evidence.
An officer sustained a minor injury, Uram said. No other injuries were reported.
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YOU CAN HELP: Responders, friends and members of the community 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.
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