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Furious CPR efforts on the 75-year-old father and his 44-year-old son on the front lawn of the 9th Street home were fruitless after the three-alarm fire trapped them shortly after 4 a.m. Friday, Police Chief Scott Hedenberg said.
Safwat F. Saad and his son, Maged Saad, were both pronounced dead at the scene, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
The mother, Amal Z. Saad, 66, was taken to Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville in critical condition after responders used a neighbor's ladder to get to her as she stood at a second-floor window.
The fire apparently broke out on that floor was knocked down within about 45 minutes, Hedenberg said.
The cause didn't appear suspicious, the chief said, but the Bergen County Prosecutor's Arson Investigations Unit was investigating because there were fatalities.
Firefighters from Kearny, Lyndhurst and Rutherford were among the mutual aid responders at the scene, with their colleagues from East Rutherford and Wallington providing coverage.
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