Fiery death of elderly woman scars family, responder
A man says he's living with serious emotional scars after his attempt to save an elderly Jersey City woman from a fire. Eliu Rivera suffered smoke inhalation during the failed rescue of 91-year-old Elysa
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May 17, 2008, 12:26 AM
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Updated 6,108 days ago
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A man says he's living with serious emotional scars after his attempt to save an elderly Jersey City woman from a fire.
Eliu Rivera suffered smoke inhalation during the failed rescue of 91-year-old Elysa Rivera May 7. The elderly woman wasn't burned, but died from smoke inhalation.
Responders like Rivera say they did all they could but the heat was too intense.
"We couldn't get in," he says. "There was so much smoke. We couldn't see. We just couldn't get in there."
Rivera was buried in her native Puerto Rico. Her family has returned and is now living in a one-bedroom apartment.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
91-year-old dies, 3 responders hurt in Jersey City fire
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