Jersey City five-year-old girl and her grandmother in critical condition after a fire

Published: Monday, August 08, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal


Jersey City firefighters battle a blaze at 760 West Side Ave.

Pulled from a burning building yesterday morning in Jersey City, a 5-year-old girl and her 54-year-old grandmother were in critical condition last night at the Burn Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, officials said.

The grandmother suffered burns to the upper part of her body while the girl sustained several small burns around her head and inhaled plenty of smoke, Fire Director Armando Roman said.

When Fire Capt. Bill Raleigh entered the three-story building at 760 West Side Ave. shortly after the fire was reported at 9:32 a.m., he encountered heavy smoke coming from the building, Roman said.

Raleigh heard the faint cries of a child behind a second floor apartment door, Roman said.

After he forced the door open, he saw the 5-year-old girl on the chest of her grandmother, who was lying face up unconscious near the living room, Roman said.

Raleigh dragged the grandmother by the arms with the girl on top into the hallway. And then with the help of two other firefighters, carried the fire victims outside the building, Roman said.

Firefighter Jose Cotti, who is also a nurse at Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, administered CPR with EMTs at the scene and the grandmother came to, Roman said.

Both victims were initially taken to the Jersey City Medical Center but later, the grandmother was airlifted to the Burn Center in Livingston and the girl was taken there in a pediatric ambulance, officials said.

The 28-year-old father of the girl, who also suffered minor injuries in the fire, was in a bedroom when the fire broke out, but because of the heavy fire outside his bedroom door he broke a window and jumped onto the roof of an adjacent restaurant, Roman said, adding that the man was distraught at not being able to help his family.

Two sheriff?s officers who were in the area and reached the scene before firefighters tried unsuccessfully to enter the burning building. They also suffered minor injuries, the fire director said.

The one-alarm fire, which was brought under control at 9:50 a.m., was caused by burning incense inside the second floor apartment, Roman said.

Two families were displaced, officials said.