NEWARK, N.J. – A fire late Thursday night claimed the lives of two young sisters, ages six and eight, in a multifamily home on Eckard Street. Authorities believe the fire may have started while the girls were playing with fire near a couch in a second-floor hallway, devastating a family that had been celebrating a birthday earlier that evening.
Firefighters arrived at the scene just after midnight, but neighbors had already begun desperate rescue attempts. One neighbor, identified only as Andrew, provided a ladder to a man who tried to reach the girls trapped on the second floor. Despite efforts to save them, both children were pronounced dead after firefighters attempted to resuscitate them on a neighbor’s lawn.
“I don’t want them to see that. I was crying, but. It looked like, you know, they look like my grandkids,” said a neighbor, visibly shaken by the tragedy.
Several residents of the building reportedly jumped from windows to escape the fire, and neighbors have expressed concerns about potential code violations in the overcrowded home.
According to reports, a neighbor named Delisa said she had previously contacted local authorities, worried about the number of people living on the second floor, but claims her calls to the mayor’s office and code enforcement were never addressed.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire while the community mourns the loss of the two young sisters. The Newark superintendent of schools has released a statement expressing deep sorrow over the tragedy.
