A Thanksgiving celebration in the City of Orange, New Jersey, ended in tragedy Thursday when two sisters died while helping their disabled father escape a house fire. Authorities said the blaze broke out around 5 p.m. at a home on Mosswood Avenue near Tremont Avenue, as reported by The New York Post.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office identified the victims as 49-year-old Frantzia Fleury and 42-year-old Pojanee Fleury.

According to investigators, the sisters were attempting to guide their father out of the burning home when they were overtaken by flames.

Frantzia Fleury, 49, and her sister, Pojanee Fleury, 42, died while reportedly trying to help their disabled father out of the home. https://t.co/HYHBRW1TxB

— FOX 5 NY (@fox5ny) November 28, 2025

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Their father escaped without injury, along with six other individuals who were inside the residence at the time.

Emergency responders pronounced both sisters dead at the scene at 6:45 p.m., prosecutors said.

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Pojanee Fleury is described on her personal website as a publisher, author, and inventor. She wrote the memoir “Who’s Going to Invent That, You?”, which chronicled her experiences and challenges in becoming an inventor.

The African Immigrants’ Commission of New York and Connecticut posted a message on Facebook honoring her work and community presence.

“Pj was a great selfless community leader, and a dedicated community servant. We are extremely sad,” the organization wrote. “She will be missed dearly.”

Frantzia Fleury was a radiologic technologist at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Nearly nine years ago — the day after Thanksgiving in 2016 — she shared a photo of herself with her arm around her father, captioned with the hashtag “#DaddysGirl.”

Neighbors described the family as friendly and well-liked. One resident who spoke with WPIX said, “I just came here to look, and then I see the whole fire. That’s heartbreaking, and on Thanksgiving, that’s hard. That’s really hard.”

Another neighbor, Matthew Mehr, told WABC he consistently had positive interactions with the family. “I just know that they kept their yard really nice and whenever I would go for a walk or run, they were super friendly,” he said.

Authorities said the cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Friday. No additional details about the origin of the blaze or the condition of the property were released.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is asking anyone with information to contact investigators as they continue examining the circumstances surrounding the fatal fire.

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