NJ Man Dies After Setting Himself On Fire, Killing Woman, Authorities Say

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A man set fire to himself in a basement apartment in Teaneck last month, ultimately killing himself as well as a woman who lived there, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said Friday. Another person who was rescued from the home remains hospitalized.

Ranjodh Singh IV, 35, and Manjinder Kaur, 44, died of injuries sustained in a fire that was called in to the Teaneck police shortly after midnight on Monday, Feb. 19, prosecutors had said.

First responders headed to 850 Palisade Ave. that morning and rescued three people from a basement apartment, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Besides the two people who passed away, responders also rescued Manjit Kaur, 47, who is still hospitalized at Cooper Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with serious injuries, prosecutors said Friday.

An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Task Force, Major Crimes Unit, and Teaneck Police Department investigated and determined that "Ranjodh Singh IV, who died on February 19, 2024, utilized an accelerant, and purposely set fire to himself in the basement apartment. As a result, the fire spread rapidly through the basement and trapped the other two occupants of the apartment."

Prosecutors would not elaborate on the relationship among the three victims.

On-line records show the house is a five-bedroom home.