Holiday celebrations for some residents of East Orange, N.J., are cut abruptly short.
Holiday celebrations for some residents of East Orange, N.J., were cut abruptly short Friday when a two-alarm fire destroyed their homes.
The fire chief told NBC New York that the blaze was going full force when firefighters got to the scene, and that nonfunctioning smoke alarms may have been to blame.
One home was totally destroyed. A top floor collapsed in a second home when the fire spread next door.
The flames were dying down by 8 a.m., but authorities said two people were unaccounted for, possibly a mother and her daughter. Others suffered minor injuries.
Resident Penny Freeman said she lost everything in the fire.
