3 Kids, 1 Adult Trapped And Killed In Elizabeth Fire: Officials

ELIZABETH, NJ — Three children and a woman who were shopping in a furniture store were trapped and killed in a massive five-alarm fire that broke out in Elizabeth Monday night, officials said.

The mother of two of the children also remains in critical condition as of Tuesday morning, Elizabeth Spokeswoman Kelly Martins said.

The fire was reported around 6 p.m. on Monday in the 800 block of Elizabeth Avenue to a mixed-use commercial property that housed a party store/dollar store on the bottom, a furniture store on the top and an apartment building in the back, officials said.

The fire ignited from a soda machine on the bottom floor store, and staff tried to put out the fire but couldn't, Martins said.

Merlyn Vasquez, 36, of Elizabeth was shopping with her two children Daniela Marquez, age 8, and Paola Marquez, age 10, and their friend Elizabeth Correas, age 11, Martins said.

The shoppers were inside the second-floor furniture store when the fire broke out and could not get down the stairs due to heavy smoke. They tried to get out of a gated door leading outside from the second floor but it was locked, Martins said.

An Elizabeth police officer who was in the area arrived first to the scene to find an adult woman and a child trying to get out but were unable to because of bars on the door, Martins said.

"He couldn't cut through the bars so they had to wait for the fire department to cut through and pull them out. The other child was pulled out through the front," Martins said.

Merlyn Vasquez along with Daniela Marquez and Elizabeth Correas were pulled out of the fire and taken to Trinitas Medical Center. Vasquez remains in critical condition. Daniela and Elizabeth were pronounced dead, Martins said.

Vasquez's other daughter Paola Marquez and Candida Martinez-Del Reyes, 41 were missing as of Monday night. Two bodies were found on Tuesday morning, believed to be Paola Marquez and Candida Martinez-Del Reyes, Martins said.

An initial report of an adult man in critical condition was unfounded, Martins said.

A nearby apartment complex was evacuated and 21 residents were displaced as a result of the five-alarm fire. Those residents were put up in temporary housing, Martins said.

A total of 10 fire departments responded and the fire was put out around 9:25 p.m.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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