Off-Duty Firefighter Gets Englewood Cliffs Family Out Of Burning Home

Lt. David Haenelt was in the right place at the right time.

Haenelt was off duty and on his way to the airport to attend fire training in Indianapolis when he noticed smoke coming from a burning home on West Street in Englewood Cliffs Tuesday morning, NorthJersey.com reported.

Haenelt saw the flames just before 7:15 a.m. and ran into the building; he got seven people and their dog out of the home, Deputy Fire Chief Erik Enersen told the website.

The two-alarm fire started in a van in the driveway and spread to the outside of the house. Siding on the home and the home next-door and electrical wires melted and the fence separating the properties was damaged.

An 18-year-old girl was taken to the hospital, but the extent of her injuries wasn’t know, Enersen told the website.