Crime & Safety

Fire Chief Crawls Through Home to Rescue Dog During Blaze

A police officer used a garden hose to contain the blaze while fire crews responded.

A Wayne fire chief crawled through a living room to rescue a dog during a house fire on Deerfield Road early Tuesday morning.

Mike Rossi, captain of Fire Co. 3, was the first on scene to the fire at approximately 2:30 a.m., said Steve Toth, fire commissioner. Rossi lives down the street from the house.

There was fire coming from the outside of the side of the home and heavy, black smoke coming from the front door. A resident standing in the front doorway told Rossi that he thought there was a fire in the basement, Toth said. The resident also said there was a dog and a hamster inside the house.

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Rossi crawled through the living room to find the dog and brought it out safely.

As fire fighters began arriving on scene, Officer John Parr used a garden hose to keep the fire from spreading. Crews were able to extinguish the fire on the exterior of the house and contained the fire inside the home to the basement.

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The house suffered heat and smoke damage on the first and second floors.

Although the fire was being investigated Tuesday afternoon, Toth said it “appears to be accidental and electrical” in nature.

No people were injured but the hamster did not survived, Toth said.

The house was deemed uninhabitable by the town’s building department.

Fire Cos. 3, 4, and 5 and the Wayne First Aid Squad responded to the blaze.

Deerfield Road is located off of Black Oak Ridge Road next to Pompton Plains Crossroads.


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