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"The father was shoveling them out and the wife and two kids wanted to stay in the to stay warm," Detective Andy White told Daily Voice. "The exhaust pipe of the 2000 Mazda was blocked by snow, sending carbon monoxide into the vehicle."
Emergency responders conducted CPR on the 23-year-old Brinkerhoff Place mom and her two youngsters during the 8:11 p.m. call on Sherman Street, White said.
All three were taken to St. Mary's Hospital, where staff "worked on them for quite some time" before they were pronounced dead, he said.
The girl was transferred to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition, the detective said.
"It's a tragic incident," White said. "The whole city of Passaic -- our thoughts and prayers go out to the family during this difficult time.
"We also want to remind people out there with this much snow to make sure the exhaust pipes are free and clear of any snow," he said. "It only takes a couple minutes for the carbon monoxide to get you."
Police in Bergen and Passaic counties on Sunday also asked citizens not to throw or shovel show into the street following the storm, which dumped nearly three feet in some areas.
"In addition to being illegal, the throwing /shoveling of snow into the street creates a road hazard," Leonia Police Chief Thomas Rowe said. "The DPW has been working continuously for over thirty hours. Throwing/shoveling snow into the street forces them to re-plow the street.
"They have worked diligently to clean the town of snow and render the streets safe and are in need of rest."
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A Dumont family of three stricken by high levels of carbon monoxide poisoning was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center just before 7 a.m. Sunday, responders said. The family dog, who was OK, was staying with a neighbor.
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Power outages continued Sunday morning throughout Saddle Brook and in parts of Fair Lawn and elsewhere.
The Saddle Brook outages stemmed from a transformer malfunction on Saddle River Road near the Garden State Parkway overpass, Mayor Robert White said.
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New Jersey's state of emergency was lifted at 1 p.m. NJ Transit service resumed. The George Washington Bridge and New York City's bridges and tunnels were reopened.
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Late-night snowfall totals in Bergen ranged from 18 inches in Ridgewood to more than two feet in Franklin Lakes, and from 17 inches in Wayne to nearly 23 inches in Bloomingdale in Passaic County.
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