By David Porter
The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Mike Derer A firefighter enters the home, Wednesday. |
NEWARK, N.J. — Fire raced through a two-story home in Union early Wednesday, blowing out windows and raining debris on neighboring houses while trapping and ultimately killing four members of a family.
“‘Hell on earth’ is probably the best way to describe it,” said neighbor Sal DeFranco.
“It was just a complete billowing fire. ... This whole block was smoke,” he said.
The victims were identified as Edgardo Aguas, 57; his wife, Digna, 47; their 13-year-old daughter, Emily; and Digna Agua’s mother, Flotilda Tullao, 86.
Edgardo Aguas managed to get out of the house but collapsed outside and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to Union Township Fire Chief Frederick Fretz.
A son, Edgar Aguas, 21, escaped by jumping out a window of the two-story bungalow, Fretz said. He was treated and released from the hospital.
A neighbor reported the fire about 2:30 a.m. after hearing screams, Fretz said.
Several sections of the floor collapsed as firefighters entered the house, forcing them to use ladders to reach the second floor, Fretz said. They found Digna Aguas in a bathroom clutching a fire extinguisher and her mother in a closet. Emily Aguas was found on the first floor.
The cause of the fire, which took place in a community about seven miles away from Newark, had not been determined.
A separate fire killed an adult and 7-year-old boy in the shore town of Belmar on Tuesday night, authorities said. They were not immediately identified.
A witness told The Asbury Park Press that a woman was outside the home screaming, “My baby and my momma are inside.”
The cause of the fire was under investigation, Belmar Fire Chief Sean Pringle said.