One man was killed and more than a dozen others were hurt in a fire that torched a building in Brooklyn early Wednesday, officials say. Rob Schmitt reports
One man was killed and more than a dozen others were hurt in a fire that torched a building in Brooklyn early Wednesday, officials say.
The blaze broke out on the second floor of a three-story apartment building on Flatbush Avenue near Farragut Road in Flatbush at about 12:30 a.m., according to the FDNY. Flames quickly swept through the building, burning other apartments and a business on the first floor.
Police say a man in his 20s died from injuries he sustained in his blaze. Fourteen others were injured, with at least six sustaining critical injuries. All of the victims were taken to area hospitals.
The fire was brought under control at about 2 a.m.
Dozens of residents outside into freezing cold temperatures for several hours. Some, including children, were still in pajamas as crews doused flames.
FDNY Captain Glen Schneider called it a "very chaotic scene, there was an unusual number of people that came out.'
One woman who lives across the street watched the panic as the flames spread and people tried to escape.
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"There's people knocking on the glass, like 'help me, can I come downstairs,' screaming. Trying to make their kids go downstairs first with no socks, no coats, no nothing," she said.
Officials say they're investigating whether the building was an illegal single-room occupancy, or SRO, in which multiple people stay in rooms that are not complete apartments. A fire official said 12 beds were found in nine very small rooms on the second floor of the building.
One resident, Samuel Favard, said he saved a neighbor's 5-year-old daughter from the flames but couldn't make it out with anything else.
"I lost everything. My computer, my clothes," he said. "I've lost everything. I don't know what to do."
The building was heavily damaged and may have to be demolished.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
