JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Authorities say an elderly resident was killed and four firefighters were injured by a massive blaze that engulfed two apartment buildings in Jersey City.
Fire Chief Darren Rivers says 80-year-old Walter Highsmith died in Monday's fire. City Spokesman Stan Eason says Highsmith lived in a first floor apartment of one of the buildings.
Rivers says one firefighter fell three stories from a ladder and is hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Eason says the injured firefighter suffered broken bones and possibly a collapsed lung, while three other firefighters suffered minor injuries.
The four-alarm fire broke out shortly after noon in a three-story building on Bramhall Avenue and soon spread to an adjoining building. Each building has six apartments.
Chief Rivers says the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
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