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UPDATE: Police officers and firefighters rescued a middle-aged woman from the second-floor roof as a Cliffside Park two-family blaze raged tonight.
The woman was taken to Holy Name Medical Center with injuries that Fire Chief Teddy Tarabokija told CLIFFVIEW PILOT weren’t considered life-threatening.
PHOTO: James Woods Sr.
Two firefighters also sustained minor injuries in the blaze, he said.
Flames broke out in the 3½-story Oakdene Avenue structure just after 9 p.m., quickly blew through the second floor and then up a third-floor wall to the roof, the chief said.
Tarabokija and Lts. Chris Neary and Charles Diaz fetched the woman, her cat and police Officers Gabe Marciano and Brett Benevento, who had climbed a ladder to the short roof to reach the trapped resident.
Edgewater, Fairview, Fort Lee, Leonia, Palisades Park and Ridgefield firefighters joined their Cliffside Park colleagues in battling the three-alarm blaze well past 11 p.m., as portions of the building collapsed.
Werner R. Ennesser produced this VIDEO:
The blaze was declared under control at 11:15 p.m., with firefighters dousing rekindling spots.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause.
STORY / PHOTOS (below): CLIFFVIEW PILOT Senior Correspondent Richard Criscione
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