N.J. Firefighter Dies After Fighting Blaze

Friday, November 16 2007 @ 12:00 pm EST

Contributed by: CBrining

By Justo Bautista and Soni Sangha Form: The Record Copyright 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.,

All Rights Reserved

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. ï¿½ Firefighters from Ridgefield Park and surrounding towns were in mourning Sunday for a colleague who fought a spectacular early morning blaze in Bogota and died hours later while attending a family outing.

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[Ridgefield Park, New Jersey]

Stephen R. Dembski, 41, was called a "staple in the community" by Ridgefield Park Mayor George D. Fosdick, also a volunteer firefighter who responded to the Bogota fire. He said Dembski, the father of two young sons, was fit and had no known medical problems.

Flags flew at half-staff in the village Sunday as firefighters from Dembski's company, Ridgefield Park Hook and Ladder Company 2, grimly put up black bunting around their firehouse on Hazelton Street.

Firefighters from the five neighboring towns that battled the blaze, as well as village residents, stopped by the firehouse to pay their respects and offer condolences.

"A terrible loss," a distraught Fosdick said. "Steve came from a long line of firefighters, and he was upholding the tradition. He was a former chief of our department, a well-respected, smart young man. He knew his stuff." Dembski joined the Fire Department at age 18, Fosdick said.

The three-alarm fire at 112 Oakwood Ave. was reported at 6:58 a.m., Bogota Patrolman Daniel Creange said. Vincent Hill, a resident at the house, suffered second- and third-degree burns after alerting his father and two brothers of the blaze, which began at the front of the house, Creange said. The 2ï¿½-story house was destroyed.

Hill was treated at Hackensack University Medical Center for burns on his arm, chest and face, Creange said. Five surrounding towns, including Ridgefield Park, South Hackensack, Hackensack, Teaneck and Bergenfield, and paramedics from Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck responded to the call. Fosdick drove Ridgefield Park's hook and ladder truck to the scene. "Fire was rolling out of the front of the building, from the first and second floors. ... It was a full-blown blaze," he said. Dembski was one of the ladder men who went inside the building to check for any occupants, and then helped vent the roof. "Ladder company work," Fosdick said. The fire, which was declared under control in one hour, was under investigation Sunday.

Fosdick said he was called shortly before 4 p.m. by a Ridgefield Park firefighter, who told him Dembski had collapsed at a family outing in Bergenfield. The firefighter told Fosdick that Dembski had had a heart attack. Dembski was taken to Holy Name. Other firefighters converged on the hospital, and hugged one another and Dembski family members. "We are pretty close," Fosdick said.

Elwood Fire Rescue
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