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Members of Totowa Fire Rescue 4 freed the woman from her vehicle on Patriots Trail at the Dey Hill Estates before entering the burning house -- now completely destroyed -- to search for other victims, firefighters told Daily Voice. There weren't any, they said.
The woman was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Hospital in Paterson and was expected to survive. The dog was doing well and was taken to the first aid squad, officials said.
The blaze apparently originated in the kitchen and extended to the second floor and roof, they said. Members from West Paterson, Wayne and Little Falls were called for mutual aid to assist.
The fire was initially discovered by Karen Mordenti, 57, of Elmwood Park, who had received a call from a Pequonnack hopsital that their mother -- who has pneumonia -- is not doing well, NorthJersey.com reports.
Mordenti was trying to reach her sister Susan -- her mother's caretaker at the Totowa house -- but she wasn't answering the phone, the article says.
Upon opening the door just before 2 a.m., she discovered the house was on fire, NorthJersey.com says.
"If she didn't go to the house, who knows what happens?" Fire Marshal Allen Del Vecchio told NorthJersey.com
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