North Caldwell Cop, Jogger, Help Fairfield Residents Escape House Fire

Fairfield, NJ – An off-duty North Caldwell police officer and an alert neighbor helped a Fairfield family escape a home fire without injuries on Monday, authorities say.

North Caldwell Sergeant Karl Strodthoff and a local jogger noticed that the Ralph Drive home was on fire around 10 a.m., and immediately ran to notify the occupants, ABC News 7 reported.

"These residents were unaware of the fire that was consuming their house and if not for the actions of the jogger and North Caldwell Sergeant Karl Strodthoff, this could have been a real tragedy" Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna told ABC 7.

Firefighters from the Fairfield Fire Department, assisted by crews from West Caldwell, North Caldwell and Verona, extinguished the blaze about 90 minutes later, West Essex Now reported.

There were no injuries, authorities stated.

An investigation into the fire’s cause is ongoing, authorities said.

Video by Mike Villanova, via Facebook

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