A fire that blazed through four homes and the basement of a Jersey City church left four people dead, Thursday.
Residents in the neighborhood awoke to the smell of smoke, then spied a mountain of red and orange flames smoldering through a row of buildings at about 1 in the morning, according to a report by the New York Times.
26-year-old neighbor Kirk Campbell described the harrowing picture as "like a movie scene."
"The flames just went whoosh, like an explosion," Campbell told the Times.
Another unnamed resident told NBC New York that there were flames and heavy smoke billowing out of the windows of four different buildings in Jersey City.
"The flames were bouncing from house to house, almost like hopscotch," the unidentified neighbor stated.
Bishop William Pickett and his wife Elizabeth Eula Mae's home was the first to be eaten up by the early morning blaze, according to members of the family who spoke with the Times. The elderly couple's two children lived in the home as well.
Pickett, Mae and their sons Curtis and Thomas were all confirmed as deceased Thursday afternoon, law enforcement and fire officials reported.
The father of one of Bishop Pickett's grandchildren reportedly tried kicking in front door of the home prior to the fire department's arrival , which Mayor Steven Fulop said was delayed.
According to NBC New York, Fulop said it took firefighters almost double the standard arrival time of about three to four minutes to get to the site of the fire. The Mayor said confusion of the street name might have been to blame.
Neighbors said Pickett was one of the chief supporters of the community - he held church services, helped residents in the area with their needs and pushed people to do their best.
"He told me I could be whoever I wanted to be; it helped me stop doing bad things," 28-year-old Lynnis Golden, father to one of Pickett's grandchildren, told the Times.
