file photo Boyd Loving Cat CPR
Kindness of Ridgewood community prevails in face of tragedy
DECEMBER 8, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014, 11:29 AM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Two separate house fires broke out Nov. 28, causing severe damage and killing two cats.
Fire Chief James Van Goor said firefighters tried to deliver CPR to the two cats that had been hiding in an upstairs bedroom as a fire raged through the basement of a home on South Pleasant Avenue.
Homeowners Keith and Lauren Imbruglia made it out of their house with another pet, a rescued bulldog, unharmed. Their three children were not home at the time. The cats, sisters, had been adopted two years ago.
Van Goor said firefighters responded to the home at 3 p.m.; an investigation later determined that the blaze was caused by smoldering embers falling down through a “clean-out shoot” that was open in the family’s fireplace.
The Imbruglias had been using their fireplace for the first time in a house they had just moved into in July.
To completely extinguish the flames, Van Goor said firefighters had to knock down a wall in the basement.
“The basement was going really good,” the chief said. “There was a lot of fire in the basement and it was rolling over the top of the ceiling. There is extensive smoke damage on the first and second floors and the basement was completely burned out.”
Another job well done by the professionals at the Ridgewood Fire Department. Hopefully the residents realize how lucky we are to have a paid fire department.