NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) — A birthday celebration in Newark turned into a tragedy Saturday night.
Family members and an entire community are grieving after the fire claimed the lives of two little girls .
The fire originated on the second floor of a house on Eckert Street, authorities say. The two victims are a six-year-old, who neighbors say was the one celebrating her birthday, and an 8-year-old. It is not confirmed if the two little girls were related.
One neighbor told PIX11 News that she can’t get her mind off the image of a firefighter coming out of the house looking hopeless and holding back tears after not being able to save the children.
“I started crying but I don’t want them to see I was crying, they looked like my grandkids,” said Andrew Simpson as he showed PIX11 News the blankets, he said were used to wrap up the bodies of the two children once they were taken out from the burning house and brought to the front yard of his home.
Simpson said everyone was trying to help but the flames and smoke were spreading very fast. He rushed to his garage to grab this ladder and gave it a man who climbed up and tried to rescue the little girls.