Lyndhurst, NJ – A 42-year-old man is facing multiple arson-related charges after investigators say he deliberately ignited a fire inside a Valley Brook Avenue apartment building, forcing a dramatic police rescue of a resident trapped near the flames.

The blaze broke out shortly after 8:25 a.m. Tuesday at 522 Valley Brook Avenue, where first responders found fire spreading in the common stairwell of the multi-family residence. Lyndhurst police officers began extinguishing the flames and pulled a resident from the area of the fire before firefighters fully suppressed the blaze.

Detectives with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Squad, joined by the Bergen County Arson Task Force and Lyndhurst Police, determined that the same resident who was rescued, identified as Alexander Pluchi

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