4 Injured, Including Firefighter After 2-Alarm Blaze Destroys Delanco Home

DELANCO, N.J. (CBS) -- Four people, including a firefighter, were rushed to the hospital after a house fire in South Jersey early Friday morning.

The fire started around 1:15 a.m. at a two-story house on the 600 block of Union Avenue in Delanco Township, Burlington County.

Paramedics transported three people, a husband, wife and adult daughter to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, after firefighters and police officers rescued two of them from rooftops of the home.

"I have a 20-foot to 30-foot extension ladder out in front of my house and I ran over and grabbed it, ran it across the street to one of the police officers," said neighbor Mike Johnston.

A firefighter was also taken to the hospital with a knee injury.

Delanco Fire Chief Todd Johnson said ice on the ground was a big hazard for firefighters and the construction of the home with no firewalls accelerated the fire.

"Almost two hours to get it under control," Chief Johnson said. "It's balloon construction, which means there's no firewalls in between, so it took us a while, we were chasing fire into walls itself."

Fire officials say three dogs and at least one cat died in the fire. Another cat remains missing.

"Glad they are all fine. It's a shame that the dogs perished, but material things can be replaced," said Johnston.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.