Dad picking up donations after house fire hours earlier is critically injured after being hit by a car

A New Jersey father was hit by a car as he went to collect charitable donations to help his family, after their home burned down just hours before.

Roberto Vidanos was crossing the street in Pleasantville when he was hit hard by a driver and sustained severe injuries including two broken legs, a broken pelvis and a fractured spine, according to his wife.

"He was on the ground. He was hit really hard… He was just still," Veronica Sanchez told ABC6 Tuesday. "Once I got closer to him, I was trying to keep him up once the ambulance got here. His eyes kept rolling back."

Vidanos was taken to the hospital where he was rushed into surgery. He remains on a ventilator. "It's gonna be a long road to recovery for him,” Sanchez added.

The tragedy was the second to have struck the family who had watched their home go up in flames just hours before. Vidanos, his wife and two children, and six other family members were asleep inside.

The tragedy was the second to have struck the family who had watched their home go up in flames just hours before. Ten relatives were asleep inside at the time though all made it out safely (Pleasantville Fire Department)

All 10 made it out safely and without injury.

Firefighters from the Pleasantville Fire Department responded to the blaze just before 6 a.m.

“Our first units arrived within minutes and found heavy fire showing from the side of a single-family home,” the department said in an online post.

“Crews made an aggressive interior attack in an effort to stop the spread of the fire, but after a sustained period of interior operations and worsening conditions, command transitioned the incident to a defensive operation to ensure firefighter safety.”

The fire was under control by 9 a.m., PFD added.

Sanchez said that a loud bang had woken the family up and alerted them to the fire. "If that noise didn't happen to wake us up, I wonder where we'd be," she told ABC6.

Firefighters from the Pleasantville Fire Department responded to the blaze just before 6 a.m. and the fire was extinguished by 9 a.m. (Pleasantville Fire Department)

Donations from the community, spearheaded by the Angels in Motion non profit, have flooded in for the family, who were well known and popular within the community.

"It's only up from here. Can't get any worse than this,” Sanchez said.

Police and fire officials say both incidents remain under investigation. The Independent has contacted Pleasantville law enforcement for updates.