Two New Jersey residents were rescued early Saturday morning from the roof of a house after a passing off-duty police officer spotted smoke emanating from the structure, authorities said.
Lyndhurst police used a rescue ladder to help the couple, a 45-year-old man and 35-year-old woman whose names weren't disclosed, climb down from a lower roof of the house at 518 Willow Lane. Heavy smoke had forced the two to retreat onto the roof, where they dialed 911 to report the fire.
The couple told police that the homeowner lived downstairs. Police officers rushed inside to search for him, but determined that he wasn't in the house. He was located later in town and escorted home by police.
The homeowner, a 65-year-old man whose identity wasn't released, became distraught when told that his three cats had died in the 3:30 a.m. fire, police said. He was then taken to Clara Mass Medical Center.
The couple was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Lyndhurst firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, but the house was deemed uninhabitable by township building officials.
