Fair Lawn family left homeless after late-night fire

FAIR LAWN — Donations have been pouring in for a borough family, after a late-night fire left them homeless.

Fair Lawn police said the fire started Saturday night in the basement of the Milnes family's one-story home at 87 Pomona Ave., near the borough’s border with Hawthorne, and spread upward. Firefighters from Fair Lawn and Saddle Brook brought the two-alarm blaze under control about 90 minutes after it was reported at 11:28 p.m.

No one was injured, Fair Lawn police Sgt. Brian Metzler said Sunday. The house was deemed uninhabitable and the family was staying with relatives, Metzler said.

The fire remained under investigation Sunday but was not considered suspicious, police said.

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A Go Fund Me campaign has been set up to help the family at https://www.gofundme.com/friends-of-the-milnes-family. The campaign's Web page notes that the family includes Jackie, a preschool teacher; Kyle, a former member of the U.S. Army; and Steve, a member of the Fair Lawn volunteer Rescue Squad and a Class 1 police officer who provides courtroom, traffic and crowd control and other unarmed services.

"Suffering the devastation of a house fire is unimaginable, and these three kind-hearted friends of ours and their parents need their community's support," the campaign organizer wrote.

As of Monday morning, more than $13,000 had been raised.

Email: sheingold@northjersey.com