4 Firefighters, Residents Hurt in New Jersey House Fire

The house fire reached four alarms early Monday and was so hot it brought the outside temperature to 1,000 degrees

Four firefighters were hospitalized with burns and smoke-related injuries after battling a raging house fire in New Jersey Monday morning, authorities said.

Residents in the building on 73rd Street in North Bergen were also taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. They are expected to be OK. It wasn't clear how many tenants were hurt.

A man who lives in the building told NBC 4 New York he managed to get his elderly father and himself out safely. He said three families also live in the building and got out.

A family with young children lives on the second floor, but only the father and college-age son were home at the time of the fire, another resident said. 

Fire officials say the four-alarm house fire erupted around 4 a.m. The blaze was under control within about two hours, leaving behind smoking black holes and charred windowpanes remained where the flames had shot out of each floor.

At the height of the fire, the flames were so hot it was 1,000 degrees outside the building, fire officials said.

Chopper 4 showed an extensive emergency presence at the scene.

-Katherine Creag contributed to this story
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