Alert Passerby Reports Hillsdale Fire

A passerby alerted Hillsdale Police to a fire that was burning behind a home near Broadway early Thursday morning.

After the witness reported seeing smoke to Hillsdale Police Sgt. Dan McLaughlin at about 6:15 a.m., firefighters were sent to a multi-family home on Park Avenue where a pile of mattresses was burning on a second-floor deck behind the house, according to Hillsdale Fire Chief Jason Durie.

Ten residents were evacuated from the building. Firefighters from Hillsdale, Westwood, Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake were able to get the fire under control in about 25 minutes, Durie said.

Officials deemed the fire to have been accidental. It may have been caused by a carelessly-extinguished cigarette, according to Durie.

"It was not suspicious," he said.

Damage to the building was not severe and the residents were able to return.