ROSELLE, NJ — Roselle Mayor Donald Shaw was awoken in the early-morning hours of Wednesday, Aug. 31, by the yells of “Fire, fire!” and “Help, help!” from a woman walking her dog who was alerting the slumbering neighborhood.
Rushing out of his condominium at 5:03 a.m. in pajamas, he saw smoke rising from the building and called the fire department. Then, with his neighbors, the mayor began banging on doors, awakening people and urging them to exit the complex at 521 Brooklawn Ave.
“Everyone kept saying, ‘Where’s Joe? Where’s Joe?’ and no one knew where he was,” Shaw recalled. “Joe is an elderly man who lives alone and has a hearing impairment. So, I raced to his front door and we all tried to kick it down.”
No one could get through the heavy door, so the mayor ran to his home and found a metal tool. Shaw then rushed back and was able to pry the door open, while his fellow neighbors kept kicking the door to gain access.
Neighbors then pulled Joe out of his condo to safety, with the senior suffering only minor smoke inhalation.
Roselle fire Chief Eric Pearson said firefighters were on the scene within three minutes of the mayor’s call, armed with three fire trucks and 300 feet of hose. The team was able to knock down the fire quickly, clearing the scene by 5:45 a.m.
There was one fatality, a pet cat, the fire chief said.
“My neighbors are absolutely heroes,” the mayor said. “When something like this happens, you don’t even think about it. You work together. All we could think about was saving Joe.”
Pearson said the blaze began in a first-floor bedroom. While the cause is being investigated, it appears that a spark from a laptop charger caused the room to be engulfed in flames and smoke. The damage was limited to the condo unit in which the fire originated. Other residents were permitted to return to their units.
“When we arrived on the scene, the condo units were all evacuated with the help of the mayor,” Pearson said. “It’s very rare to have a mayor out there with a crowbar to help get people out of their homes and to inform us where the fire was specifically located. We were very lucky he was there.”