Space Heater Sparked Fatal Fair Lawn House Fire

Two police officers couldn’t find a ladder to rescue a screaming woman from a burning Fair Lawn house Tuesday night, so they improvised.

A 69-year-old woman on the first floor had called 911 to report a fire on the second floor, sparked by a space heater, Sgt. Brian Metzler said.

Fair Lawn Police Officers Juan Rodriguez and John Rovetto were the first people on the scene at the group home operated by the Alliance Against Homelessness of Bergen County.

Related: 2 Women Killed In Fair Lawn Group Home Fire

A 54-year-old woman was screaming out of a second floor window. Her legs were burning.

“I went midway up the stairs to the second floor and I saw the walls coming down,” Rodriguez said.

Police searched the garage and the neighbor’s yard for a ladder but couldn’t find one. They had to use something else.

“By the grace of God, there was a bed frame,” Officer Luis Vasquez said.

Police officers put the wooden frame against the house and Rodriguez climbed up it.

“I just got next to her and said, ‘I’m not going to let you go,’” Rodriguez said.

The fire took an hour to knock down. Two other women were found dead inside the house. One was in her bed, the other was on the floor in her bedroom.

The Bergen County Medical Examiner had not positively identified the women as of Tuesday night, Metzler said.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating what caused the space heater to catch fire.