Miracle On Paterson Avenue!!!

Paterson FIRE Help!!!

 

WCBS2 TV Interview With JOSEPH GROSS

Thank You for visiting this website. My name is Joseph Gross and I am the owner of  81 Paterson Ave.  I am also the President of Qualified Mortgage Inc. and I specialize in helping homeowners become debt-free.

The recent tragedy has had a tremendous effect on all of us, but the children have been most affected.  It is heartbreaking to think of children awaiting their first day of school without their clothing and school supplies.  As a parent, I can imagine the desperation you as parents are feeling, trying to cope with the tremendous losses and keeping your children's spirits up as well.

I have made a decision to help out as much as I can and I would like to hear from you what is it you need immediately.

If You Have Been A Victim Of The Fire At 81 - 83- 85 Paterson Avenue Or If You Want To Help.

Please Enter Your Information Below.

I will contact You Within 24 Hours. 

Click on the link below for a slide show of the FIRE.

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Nine Families Lost All they Had But On October 14^th, 2007 Joe Set Out To Paterson, With A Team Of Volunteers And Gave them Gifts And Groceries.

 Watch Joe Distributing Food

Shyra Torres' Mother Praising Joe Gross

On August 25^th, 2007 Joseph Gross, National Mortgage Expert and President of Qualified Mortgage Inc. got a phone call that a house he owned in Paterson, NJ had burnt down along with two neighboring houses. Joseph Gross was extremely thankful to hear that all of the nine families had escaped the fire unharmed. He literally cried when he saw a CBS report that week that told of a nine year old girl, Shyra Torres, from a neighboring house, who awakened her mother and then got all the families out before the fire spread. Joe decided that something needed to be done to help these families.

On September 12^th Joe Gross reached out to all the families involved, with the help of CBS news. He set up a website and toll-free number to locate the displaced families. Over the next few weeks, Joe worked on locating the families and then spoke to them about what their needs were. Most expressed a need for clothing, specifically for the children, as everything had been destroyed in the fire.

Yesterday, October 14^th, Joe set out to Paterson, NJ with a team of volunteers. He met all of the residents of the three homes and spoke with each family individually. Each family received boxes of groceries and produce, a $400 Target gift card, a $500 grocery coupon card, Dunkin Donuts gift certificates and 2 free movie tickets. At the end of the day, Joseph was even able to distribute additional food to the families. People were excited by the gift certificates but when they started packing up boxes filled with groceries their faces were beaming. Not expecting so many goods, some of the residents had to call friends to come help them bring all of the food home.

The residents thanked him and told him that they had reached out to many organizations and until this point had received very little help. Louise Campagna, the mother of Shayra Torres exclaimed, “(Its) heaven sent. Nobody would help us and he went out of his way to help people that weren’t even in his building. Words can’t even describe. He’s just a wonderful person.”

One little girl who celebrated her birthday, smiled and said “Thank you for all this stuff, this is the best birthday ever”. Her mother agreed and said, “It is a blessing”, she said “You guys helping everyone is wonderful.”

Joe Gross was extremely touched by the gratitude of the families. After meeting all the children affected by the fire, he hopes he was able to bring some joy back to a very bad situation. The highlight of the day was when one of the children saw the movie tickets and jumped for joy, “Yay, now we can go to the movies”.

When asked why he had distributed such a variety of goods and services, Joe answered, “They need help to get back on their feet but they also need to start feeling good and enjoying themselves again. They need a break to get away from the stress of this disaster. I chose the Target gift card because more important than showing up with some bags of clothing, is letting people shop for the items they need, make their own decisions and choose their purchases.”

Joseph Gross loved seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, especially the children. “It’s heartwarming to see people so happy. It’s exactly what I love about my job.” Joseph Gross is a National Mortgage Expert who specializes in helping people save their homes during this Mortgage Market Collapse. “When I help someone to get out of debt and keep their home, the American dream, it makes my job worthwhile.”

Miracle On Paterson Ave. Inspires Landlord To Help

Joseph Gross: After 9-Year-Old's Actions, 'I Literally Cried'

Lou Young
Reporting

(CBS) PATERSON, N.J. When fire raced along the strip of wooden row houses last month the residents scattered to the four winds. What was home for nine families simply vanished. Now, one of the landlords on the block is trying to find all the fire victims in an effort to offer help.

Joseph Gross has been touched by the miracle on Paterson Avenue: the story of a 9-year-old girl who saved everyone in three buildings by inexplicably waking before dawn to discover the blaze engulfing her home.

In his Teaneck office Wednesday afternoon Gross talked about what it was like to see the damage, then hear the story of the residents' escape from death or serious injury.

"I literally cried," he told CBS 2, "because this would've been a total tragedy had she not accomplished what she did."

He's talking about 5th grader Shyra Torres, who was hailed a hero by 34 members of extended family and other neighbors who managed to save themselves even as their belongings went up in smoke.

Imagining the horror that could've confronted him at the fire scene, Gross, a mortgage broker and landlord, decided he needed to help the families recover.

"If a kid like this was able to do something like that," Gross explained, "Save me aggravation and, of course, save the people who would've lost their lives, then I have to do something for the kids."

So the landlord of 81 Paterson Ave. is offering help not only to the three families that lived in his building, but to everyone else displaced by the fire. The problem is, they are all staying with relatives, or in temporary apartments while preparations are made to rebuild.

Joe set up a Web site www.patersonfirehelp.com and a toll free phone number, 1-800-854-1062 Ext. 208, for victims of the fire and people who would like to help.

One of the buildings is owned by Shyra's grandfather, George Redner. Her grandmother, Robin Redner, says the offer of help is unexpected but welcome.

"It's fantastic. I would like to thank him," she said. "You don't often get people who want to help you like that."

For Gross, though, offering the help was something appropriate to do with the approach of sundown Wednesday and the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. He wanted to be able to offer the traditional greeting to friends and family "L'shanah Tovah: For a Good Year."

And know that he did all he could to make it so.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Click On The Link Below to Watch Lou Young Reporting 

http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=103398@wcbs.dayport.com

Girl Saves 34 From Fast-Moving Fire

Lou Young
Reporting

(CBS) PATERSON, N.J. A 9-year old girl is being hailed as a hero after saving more than 30 members of her immediate and extended family from a fast moving fire in Paterson, New Jersey.

Shyra Torres, 9, woke before dawn Saturday and saw a fire beginning to spread while her mother, grandparents, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles slept. She said an unusual crackling noise punctured her dreams.

She had fallen asleep watching cartoons with her sister and immediately rushed to wake her mother sleeping in a rear bedroom.

At first her mother didn't believe her, but she was insistent and able to get everyone to safety.

“She thought I was joking, but I wasn't,” said Shrya Torres. “I ran and said ‘Tasha, Tasha, wake up’ and we all got out of the house.”

Natasha, Shyra’s 12-year-old sister woke up and helped spread the alarm, but gives her little sister all the credit.

“If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here right now,” said Natasha Torres. She too, couldn’t believe what was happening. "When I first woke up," she told CBS 2 News, "I thought it was a dream."

The 34 people living in three row houses on Paterson Avenue are alive because they got out in time following the efforts of the two young sisters.

The grateful relatives made t-shirts with "Hero of Paterson Avenue" written on them over a picture of Shyra. They wore the shirts for a family gathering Sunday evening at an aunt's house directly across the street from the fire scene.

“She caught it before the smoke alarms went off,” said Shyra Torres’ grandfather William Redner. “After she woke us up they started going.”

“She woke everybody up,” added Karen Joachim, her great-aunt. “She really is a hero.”

The 9-year-old, aware of her new hero status, plans to be a teacher when she's older.

The celebration Sunday night seemed at odds with the grim fire scene beyond the wooden barricades on Paterson Avenue. All their worldly possessions are buried in the remains of the houses, including school clothes and supplies for next month, but that hardly seemed to matter.

It was literally a celebration of life, as cousins, aunts, and uncles all ate, drank and basked in each other's company. All 34 of the displaced have found places to sleep with nearby relatives. Redner says strangers have come by offering help.

"All in all, " he told CBS 2, "it's a good day."

 

Click On The Link Below to Watch Lou Young Reporting

 
http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=102813@wcbs.dayport.com

http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=102807@wcbs.dayport.com

http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=102810@wcbs.dayport.com

 

Girl saves family as fast-moving blaze displaces 34 Sunday, August 26, 2007 By ALEXANDER MacINNES HERALD NEWS PATERSON -- "If it wasn't for her, we'd be dead." Those were the words of Louise Campagna as she sat against a brick wall Saturday morning, a block from the ruins of her home at 83 Paterson Ave. Her rescuer was her 9-year-old daughter, Shayra Torres, who awoke on a living-room couch around 5:15 a.m. when she heard a rush of air and a crackling sound, to find flames at the foot of the couch. Shayra rushed to wake her mother, who was asleep in a back bedroom of the second-floor apartment. Campagna was unaware that flames were beginning to surround Shayra's 12-year-old sister, Natasha Torres, still asleep in the living room. Shayra awakened her sister and scrambled out to awaken other family members from the three-family house and help evacuate the adjacent houses at 81 and 85 Paterson Ave. In all, 34 people living in the three buildings were displaced when the fire spread. Five Paterson firefighters were injured -- three from heat exhaustion, one who suffered a second-degree burn on his hand and one who hurt his arm, according to Paterson Fire Deputy Chief Scott MacGilvray. One resident had minor injuries to his back after a window exploded while he was trying to escape. MacGilvray said the cause of the fire, which started on the second floor, was still under investigation. The three-alarm fire took about five hours to contain. The entire Paterson Fire Department responded to the scene, according to acting Deputy Chief Bruce Vander Voort. Fire departments from Passaic, Clifton and Prospect Park also responded as backup. About 17 family members and three generations lived at 83 Paterson Ave., and were able to stay with family members in Paterson. The American Red Cross helped the others find temporary shelter, issuing vouchers for motel rooms. Shayra, interviewed at her father's apartment in Montvale, said she fell asleep around 11 p.m. while watching cartoons, with Natasha on another couch. When Shayra awoke, she said, the area around the couch was ablaze. "It was just by my feet," she said. With Natasha still sleeping, Shayra ran down the hall to her mother's room. "I was thinking something could happen and that my mom wouldn't wake up," Shayra said. "I ran and told my mom, 'Mommy, Mommy, there's a fire in the parlor.'" Shayra ran back to the living room to awaken Natasha. Both described themselves as deep sleepers who need several shoves to get up in the morning on a school day. "Oh, my God, I must be dreaming," Natasha remembered thinking when she saw the flames engulfing the living room. "I was so scared. "My whole living room and closet was full of fire. I thought I was going to get stuck in the house." Natasha ran out the door and down the stairs to wake her grandparents, who lived on the first floor. Campagna's brother and his family lived on the third floor. The house, owned by her father, William Redner, will be demolished, according to Salvatore Iannelli, the city's construction official, who was on the scene. He said 81 Paterson Ave., which sustained damage to the top floor, will be partially demolished, and the damage to 85 Paterson Ave. was still being assessed. The Campagna family lost everything in the house, but Louise Campagna was not worried about the material loss. "Just as long as my kids and everyone in the other building got out, I don't care about anything else," she said. Ray Rodriguez, a construction worker who lived at 81 Paterson Ave., said he awoke around 5:30 a.m., when his second-floor neighbor pounded on the door. Rodriguez got his family out, then turned back to try to save his pet birds. On his way back down, the fire had already advanced. "By the time I got from the third floor to the sidewalk, my room was completely engulfed," Rodriguez said. He managed to save the birds, which he called "part of the family." "Thank God all the kids are safe," he added. Reach Alexander MacInnes at 973-569-7166 or macinnes@northjersey.com.

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FireFightingNews.com Print article Five Firefighters Hurt In Paterson Blaze August 25, 2007 New Jersey - On Saturday August 25th 2007 the Paterson NJ Fire Department responded to Paterson Street near Madison Street on a reported house fire. The call came in around 5:20 am. Engine two called heavy smoke and fire while approaching the scene and found a well-involved three story multiple dwelling already extending into exposures. A second alarm on arrival was requested as fire already involved three three story frames. Companies had difficulty with an initial water supply thus delaying the first ladder pipe. A third alarm was subsequently called as well as mutual aid to the scene. Companies quickly contained the fire that was extending to exposure "D" and maintained exterior operations on the original building as well as exposure "B.” Several firefighters were treated for heat related issues and five members went to area hospitals for evaluation. The cause of the fire was under investigation at the time of this writing. Written by Michael J. Coppola Courtesy of Public Safety Pictures FireFightingNews.com - FireFighter Owned and Operated ©2007 e-Firefighter, LLC - All Rights Reserved. Powered by AlphaZero.Net

Click on the Link Below

http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=199241#%20?><!--%20Sat%20Aug%2025%2020:52:59%20UTC%202007

Fast-moving Paterson fire destroys three homes
Play the video (08/25/07) PATERSON - Five firefighters suffered minor injuries in a fire on Paterson Avenue that raged out of control early Saturday. Officials say the fire originated on the second floor of a building, moved up to the third floor and then spread horizontally to other two other buildings. Neighbors are crediting the action of a few of the residents for saving others’ lives. Several neighbors went around to friends’ doors, waking them up and alerting them of the fire. The fire destroyed three houses and displaced 34 people. The Red Cross was immediately on hand to assist the residents. Residents say the firefighters did a great job handling the situation. The firefighters were not seriously injured.

4 firefighters hurt in Paterson blaze

Posted by Alexi Friedman August 25, 2007 10:56AM