Five people were killed in a house fire in Paterson Friday night, the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office says.

The two-alarm fire happened at a home on Emerson Avenue at 9:50 p.m.

"I ran and banged on their first-floor door and was like, 'there's smoke outside in your backyard...your whole backyard is on fire,'" neighbor Fatima Ali said, describing the incident.

Officials say a 39-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman and three children ages 14, 12 and 7 all died at the scene. Their identities had not been released as of Saturday night. Neighbors and elected officials said they were a family.

"You have three children who woke up yesterday thinking about Halloween, trick-or-treating, and unfortunately, this is how their life ends, in tragic fashion. People will read or see that there were five fatalities, but it was a family of five," Paterson Mayor Andre Sayeh said.

Two firefighters were also hospitalized following the blaze, according to prosecutors.

"I just saw smoke pouring out of all of the windows, very dark, black smoke. From that point, the fireman tried to get on the roof and start extracting the people who were in there," neighbor Christopher Borowic said.

Neighbors said the fire started in the backyard of the home. They said there were 12 people in the house at the time – seven on the first floor and the five victims on the second floor.

"The mom, her husband ran to the back to see if he could help, but no one was able to go up the stairs because the stairs is what caught on fire fast, and that's their only entrance and exit," Ali said.

The Red Cross was assisting the displaced as of Saturday night. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

"The wind exacerbated the situation. It was a fast-moving fire. It was wind-driven. So that compounded the situation," Sayeh said.

He told News 12 the victims, especially the father, were prominent members of Palestinian community. State Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz is related to at least one of the victims, according to Sayeh.

Abdelaziz said in a social media post Saturday, "Please keep my family in your prayers as we grieve the loss of my cousin, his wife, and their children. Our hearts are broken, but we trust that God will give us strength during this difficult time."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the prosecutor's office at 1-877-370-7276 or at tips@passaiccountynj.org. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through their website