Multiple firefighters from Paterson and surrounding towns worked to put out a large, residential fire in the city. The fire broke out at about 10:30 a.m. on Madison Avenue and quickly spread through two structures, engulfing multiple floors.

Paterson officials said one person who lived in the building was unaccounted for, but he has since been located.

"It was awful, in flames all over," one woman whose mother was rescued from one of the buildings said. "My uncle went in the house, went over the fence and knocked down the door."

A total of 33 residents have been displaced, and a fire captain is suffering second-degree burns, according to Paterson public safety director Jerry Speziale.

"It was so large into the sky that I could see it across the city at fire headquarters. I didn't know there was a fire from a radio. I knew it from seeing the smoke," he said.

"We look at every angle, not only where the fire originated, but what may have caused it and were there single room occupancy, any illegal occupancy," said Paterson's fire Chief Alex Alicea.