Booker arrived home Thursday night to find the house next door on fire, according to spokeswoman Anne Torres. Booker and two of his security detail entered the home to help its residents escape, Torres said. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, and was released around midnight.
Booker, a prolific social media user, tweeted late Thursday that he was fine and thanked his followers for their well-wishes.
"Thanks 2 all who are concerned. Just suffering smoke inhalation," Booker tweeted. "We got the woman out of the house. We are both off to hospital. I will b ok."
He then posted a tweet early Friday morning that read: "Thanks everyone, my injuries were relatively minor. Thanks to Det. Alex Rodriguez who helped get all of the people out of the house."
Booker told The Star-Ledger he suffered second-degree burns on his hand.
Newark Fire Director Fateen Ziyad told the newspaper that Booker had recounted to him how he heard a woman yelling "I'm back here," from a back bedroom when the mayor rushed into the building but was held back by his security details. The mayor yelled at his security guards to release him, saying: "She is going to die, she is going to die," Ziyad told the newspaper, adding the mayor crossed through smoke and flames to grab the woman and carry her in his arms out of the building.
Torres said the mayor was exhausted from the ordeal and would hold a press briefing on Friday morning.
Details on the cause of the fire or the extent of the other people's injuries were not immediately available.
