Fair 56°
Police & Fire
UPDATE: No Charges For Troubled Driver Who Claimed Child Was In Burning Car, Fair Lawn PD Says UPDATE: No Charges For Troubled Driver Who Claimed Child Was In Burning Car, Fair Lawn PD Says
Update: No Charges For Troubled Driver Who Claimed Child Was In Burning Car, Fair Lawn PD Says An emotionally disturbed woman who told Fair Lawn police that a child was inside her burning car won't be criminally charged, authorities said. Officers were looking for an erratically-driven Dodge Neon when they spotted it speeding down a resident's driveway into a heavily wooded area off Saddle River Road around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1.  The sedan got stuck on a large mulch pile, after which the driver began redlining the engine in a futile attempt to free it, a witness said."It sounded like someone was running a wood chipper," the witness said. The hot exhaust system ignit…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEROES: Firefighters Free Trapped Driver After Tractor-Trailer, Pickup Collide On Route 17 HEROES: Firefighters Free Trapped Driver After Tractor-Trailer, Pickup Collide On Route 17
Heroes: Firefighters Free Trapped Driver After Tractor-Trailer, Pickup Collide On Route 17 Firefighters extricated a heavily trapped driver after a tractor-trailer and pickup truck collided on Route 17. Hasbrouck Heights firefighters were assisted by their Wood-Ridge colleagues in freeing the female pickup driver following the crash behind the Bendix Diner shortly before 9:30 p.m. Sunday, March 17. The driver was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Nick’s Towing removed the vehicles. Northbound Route 17 was temporarily closed at Franklin Avenue during the operation. Mutual aid was provided by, among others, firefighters from Carlstadt, Lodi, Rutherford and Wallingto…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
High Winds Knock Tree Onto Car In Upper Saddle River, Trap Female Driver From NYS High Winds Knock Tree Onto Car In Upper Saddle River, Trap Female Driver From NYS
High Winds Knock Tree Onto Car In Upper Saddle River, Trap Female Driver From NYS A 45-year-old driver from New York escaped serious injury when Monday's high winds knocked a tree onto her sedan near the state line in Upper Saddle River. Firefighters from Upper Saddle River and Mahwah freed the alert trapped motorist from the 2023 Toyota Corolla following the 2:10 p.m. March 11 crash on Weiss Road at Maple Road, Police Capt. Edward Kane said. They not only had to deal with the tree but also live power lines that had fallen around it, the captain said. Members of Hatzoloh EMS who assisted took Hackensack Medical Center with what were believed to be minor injuries, he s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Body Found, Another Possible Following Fierce Multi-Family Home Fire In Ridgefield Body Found, Another Possible Following Fierce Multi-Family Home Fire In Ridgefield
Body Found, Another Possible Following Fierce Multi-Family Home Fire In Ridgefield 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A former bed and breakfast in Ridgefield had been leveled by fire when responders found the remains of a man wrapped around a support beam. “He must’ve been alive and trying to hold on when the floor above him collapsed,” said a firefighter who was at the predawn blaze at the former Toddle Inn on Broad Avenue on Wednesday, March 6. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella identified the victim on Friday as 42-year-old Xavier Contreras. An Ecuadoran national, the homeless Contreras sometimes joined the groups of day laborers waiting for passing contractors in nearby Palisades Park, jus…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Major Effort By Firefighters, Emergency Responders Follows Partial Hawthorne Building Collapse Major Effort By Firefighters, Emergency Responders Follows Partial Hawthorne Building Collapse
Major Effort By Firefighters, Emergency Responders Follows Partial Hawthorne Building Collapse Firefighters spent half a day in the cold and rain stabilizing a Hawthorne apartment building where a floor partially collapsed over the weekend. The rear wall and portions of the first floor collapsed into the basement of Building E at the Hawthorne Garden Apartments on Rock Road around 9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, borough Fire Chief Joseph Speranza said. Firefighters and police immediately began evacuating the building and securing the utilities, the chief said. Nine residents and six pets remain temporarily displaced while borough officials determine the next steps. Overall, more than three…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEROES: Hackensack Responders Rescue Dog Sitter Being Mauled While Protecting Child (UPDATE) HEROES: Hackensack Responders Rescue Dog Sitter Being Mauled While Protecting Child (UPDATE)
Heroes: Hackensack Responders Rescue Dog Sitter Being Mauled While Protecting Child (Update) A dog sitter who was being mauled while she tried to protect a small child was rescued by Hackensack's emergency responders, authorities said. Screams for help brought Officers Ryan Conlon and Denisse Caero to the Hudson Street home shortly before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, said Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. An American pit bull terrier had mauled two other dogs at the residence and had bitten the 40-year-old victim severely on both arms as she tried to intervene while holding tight to the youngster, responders said. "There was a lot of blood," one of …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEROES: Trapped Victim Rescued, Rushed To HUMC After Collapse At East Rutherford Site HEROES: Trapped Victim Rescued, Rushed To HUMC After Collapse At East Rutherford Site
Heroes: Trapped Victim Rescued, Rushed To Humc After Collapse At East Rutherford Site UPDATE: Firefighters rescued a trapped worker after a foundation wall collapsed at an East Rutherford construction site on Saturday. The wall gave way at a renovation project for a new restaurant on the Union Avenue site of the former Railroad Cafe -- pinning the worker from the waist down -- around 1:30 p.m. Oct. 28. Members of Hackensack Fire Department Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Rescue along with colleagues from several UASI departments worked together to free the trapped worker. Police in neighboring towns up the line closed intersections on northbound Route 17 as an ambula…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
With Ridgewood Still Mourning Sudden Death Of Teen, Newborn Is Delivered By Village Responders With Ridgewood Still Mourning Sudden Death Of Teen, Newborn Is Delivered By Village Responders
With Ridgewood Still Mourning Sudden Death Of Teen, Newborn Is Delivered By Village Responders A little over a week after responding to the heartbreaking death of an 18-year-old Ridgewood man, village responders helped deliver a blessing. It began with a 911 call received by Public Safety Telecommunicator Stephany Estrada at 10:35 a.m. Oct. 12: A 38-year-old Upper Boulevard resident was in labor, the woman's husband told her. It was his wife's third pregnancy and the contractions were already close together, he warned. Estrada had village police, firefighters and EMS at the home in under five minutes. Using 911 emergency guide cards, she assisted the woman's husband until they got t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Victim Airlifted After Being Knocked Unconscious By Ladder At Northvale Eatery Victim Airlifted After Being Knocked Unconscious By Ladder At Northvale Eatery
Victim Airlifted After Being Knocked Unconscious By Ladder At Northvale Eatery An employee at a restaurant in Northvale was airlifted to the hospital after being knocked unconscious by a falling ladder, authorities said. The 31-year-old Northvale resident was breathing but unresponsive when he was flown to the trauma unit at Hackensack University Medical Center following the 11:38 a.m. accident, Police Chief Howard J. Ostrow said. Responders said the victim was struck at The Greek Village restaurant on Livingston Avenue. What he was doing at the time wasn't immediately clear. The restaurant was closed at the time. Northvale EMS and firefighters along with local param…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NEVER ENDS: Firefighters Extricate Driver After Yet Another Truck Crashes On Route 287 NEVER ENDS: Firefighters Extricate Driver After Yet Another Truck Crashes On Route 287
Never Ends: Firefighters Extricate Driver After Yet Another Truck Crashes On Route 287 Mahwah firefighters rescued a trucker who was pinned late Monday afternoon in yet another crash on a treacherous stretch of Route 287 near the New York State border. The dump truck carrying a load of gravel plowed through a metal guardrail on the rain-soaked northbound highway's center median between Campgaw Road and Darlington Avenue shortly before 3:30 p.m. on 9/11, responders said. The rig tipped over and landed with its cab in the southbound lanes, trapping the driver -- who was alert but had a gash on his forehead. Firefighters worked for nearly an hour to free him from the wreckage…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Couple Seriously Burned By Tiki Torch Filled With Rubbing Alcohol, Airlifted To Barnabas Bergen Couple Seriously Burned By Tiki Torch Filled With Rubbing Alcohol, Airlifted To Barnabas
Bergen Couple Seriously Burned By Tiki Torch Filled With Rubbing Alcohol, Airlifted To Barnabas A couple lounging at a River Vale home were airlifted to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston late Sunday after they were burned seriously by a tiki torch that caught fire, authorities said. River Vale police rendered medical aid to the 54-year-old woman and 52-year-old man after receiving the call from Collignon Way at 10:44 p.m. Aug. 13, Lt. Josh Wisse said. The man told police that he used rubbing alcohol to light the torches and not the standard torch fluid, the lieutenant said. A Hackensack University Medical Center Advanced Life Support unit rendered aid before Old Tappan …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Saddle Brook Firefighters Limit Damage From Kitchen Blaze Saddle Brook Firefighters Limit Damage From Kitchen Blaze
Saddle Brook Firefighters Limit Damage From Kitchen Blaze Saddle Brook firefighters quickly doused a kitchen blaze on Monday, limiting the damage. The two-alarm fire broke out in the rear of the Congress Street home off Rochelle Parkway near westbound Route 80 shortly before 8 a.m. July 31. Firefighters forced their way in and got water on the flames while searching and ventilating the home. The fire was knocked down and under control in minutes. The Saddle Brook Fire Department urged all citizens to use smoke detectors and to be sure to dial 911 immediately to report any emergencies.

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by Jerry DeMarco