JERSEY CITY (1010 WINS) – Two children were killed in a fire at a Jersey City home on Wednesday night, authorities said.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday morning that an 11-year-old girl and 8-month-old boy died in the fire.
1010 WINS has learned that the 11-year-old girl had escaped the fire with her mother and another sibling, but she ran back inside the home in an effort to save her 8-month-old brother on the second floor.
The fire broke out at the two-story townhouse on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, near Union Street, around 11:30 p.m.
Three police officers who were passing by initially responded to the fire and were joined by firefighters, authorities said.
First responders arrived to find the screaming mother at the scene with her 6-year-old child. She said her other two children were inside the home.
Members of the fire department found the girl and boy.
A fire on MLK Drive in jersey City left an 11-year-old and 8-month-old dead Feb. 11, 2021.Christopher Sadowski/Special to NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC
The girl was pronounced dead at the scene. The boy was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:24 a.m.
Three officers also suffered smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force is investigating, which is standard procedure in deadly fires.
