View Larger Map Jersey City couple, both 80, burned in apartment fire Published: Friday, June 10, 2011, 3:15 AM By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal A woman is transported on a stretcher after a blaze at the Boyd-McGuiness Senior Citizens Building at 2555 Kennedy Blvd. in Jersey City. A Jersey City husband and wife, both 80 years old, suffered burns in a blaze at a senior citizens building yesterday and were in serious condition last night after an heroic effort got them out alive. One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and several people were treated for smoke inhalation in the aftermath of the 9:39 a.m. blaze in a sixth-floor apartment in the Boyd-McGuiness Senior Citizens Building on Kennedy Boulevard at Duncan Avenue, officials said. The building?s longtime superintendent, Manuel Rosado, said he was working in the parking lot when he heard an explosion, looked up and saw flames pouring from a window. Rosado and two others ran upstairs to find smoke coming from the couple?s apartment door. He located the man and his wife and saw the husband was more seriously burned. ?I put him on my back,? Rosado said. ?Very heavy guy. He was shaking and about to faint.? With the help of others, Rosado carried the burned man out of the building. Rosado then ran back up to the sixth floor and found the wife had already been helped from the building. Fourth-floor resident Joseph Howard said he heard a loud explosion and when he ran up to the sixth floor to help he found Rosado carrying the man. ?The man?s fingers were badly burned, as was his shoulder and arm,? Howard said. ?He was in a lot of pain and said something exploded in his apartment.? After the fire was under control, one firefighter stumbled out of the 14-story building and dropped to his knees on the sidewalk overcome by the heat. Emergency medical technicians ran to his aid. The couple was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center and transferred to the Burn Center at Saint Barnabas in Livingston. Last night, they were listed in serious but stable condition, Jersey City Deputy Fire Director Jerry Cala said. Cala said the building?s sprinkler system kept the fire in check and it was declared under control at 9:59 a.m. The deputy director said the cause of the fire has not been determined but it appears to have been accidental. He also said there was no evidence of an explosion, and the sound may have been windows blowing out due to the heat of the flames.