Ten firefighters were injured battling a house fire early Tuesday morning in northeast New Jersey.
The blaze erupted at a residence in Hillsdale in Bergen County around 3:30 a.m., according to the Hillsdale Fire Department.
Crews, responding to reports of a roof on fire, arrived to find a rear deck fire that had extended up to the attic.
At one point, the water supply was lost and a flashover occurred, leading to the non-life-threatening injuries. The firefighters were treated at local hospitals for burns and have since been discharged. None of the home’s residents were injured, but the structure sustained significant damage.
A flashover is defined as “the sudden full-room involvement in flame” when everything ignites at once and the temperature rises dramatically, according to Fireengineering.com.
Firefighters inside “bailed out, with one mayday being transmitted,” according to a statement from Hillsdale Fire Chief William Farrell.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Hillsdale Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of the fire, but it is not considered suspicious.
