Bogota neighborhood saddened after loss of elderly neighbor in Saturday's fire

The residents of a neighborhood in Bogota are saddened after the death of 74-year-old Gerald Gaimo, whose house caught fire early Saturday morning.

Gaimo’s wife escaped from the home on River Road and was outside signaling for help before first responders arrived.

During the early-morning hours, neighbors began to hear her outside screaming. Multiple neighbors called the police and fire departments, who arrived quickly but were not able to rescue Gaimo in time after finding him unconscious inside the house. He was later pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center.

“It was around 5:30 in the morning that we heard some screaming. My daughter heard it first,” said a neighbor named Merida. “We saw her outside with her dog, but in the darkness, we didn’t recognize that it was her. I told my daughter to call the cops right away because we didn’t know what was going on. She was just screaming her head off for help.”

Merida said rescuers arrived very quickly and went in right away.

“It was very humid and foggy outside; we could not see very well, but eventually we saw the dark smoke coming out of the chimney. About 40 minutes after going in, rescue came back out,” she said.

Another resident farther up the road told a similar story, saying his next-door neighbor came over and woke him at around 6:30 a.m. amid all of the commotion. Upon going outside, he could see the smoke billowing at the bottom of the hill.

Merida, though she did not know Gaimo very well, described him as a really friendly man.

“Gerald and I always said hi when we would pass by each other. He was always walking his dogs. They were a very quiet and nice couple,” Merida said. “I really feel for them, especially with the holidays coming.”

She described the neighborhood as family-oriented and having a close-knit feeling, adding that Gaimo and his wife had lived there for over 30 years, “It is devastating, and it was a hard day for all of us,” Merida said.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Bogota Police Department are conducting further investigations, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bogota NJ neighborhood saddened after Saturday's fatal fire