Mom, 7-year-old son dead after Nutley house fire – NJ.com

A mother and young son are dead after a fire at a Nutley home Saturday afternoon that also left a 74-year-old man injured, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed.

Amanda Russo, 29, and her 7-year-old son were identified by authorities as the victims in the blaze on the 300 block of Park Avenue. The 74-year-old injured man is being treated at an area hospital, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly said.

Russo and her son were pronounced dead at Clara Mass Medical Center, the prosecutor’s office said. Authorities withheld the child’s name because he is a minor.

Two generations of one family lived in the home, a family friend said. The son’s grandparents also lived at the two-story house.

“They were always taking care of each other,” said Danielle Furman, who grew up with the 29-year-old mom and went to school with her. “The grandmother was very involved with the grandson, with school activities, (and) parties.”

Fennelly was unsure if all four family members were home at the time of the fire.

Joe Caprio said he ran to the blaze to help and saw the grandfather covered in soot and burns. The grandmother came walking down the street after first responders arrived on scene and broke down in tears, Caprio said.

“An older man emerged covered in soot and burns,” Caprio recounted on Facebook. “He said to me, ‘My grandson (7 yrs old) and daughter are in there.’ I looked up the stairs and saw it engulfed with flames. There was nothing I could do.”

Michael Diacheysn, a Nutley resident who witnessed the fire, said neighboring homes were also evacuated as firefighters battled the blaze. He said fire engines from Nutley, Bloomfield, Lyndhurst and Belleville were on scene.

“Fire was coming out of the roof and windows, pretty much on both sides and the front,” Diacheysn told NJ Advance Media. “Firemen were evacuated after about an hour and a half because the house was so bad they feared collapse.”

The cause and origin of the fire are still under investigation, Fennelly said.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.

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