Three-alarm fire leaves one dead, several hurt in Brooklyn
A Friday morning blaze killed one person and left several others critically injured in Brooklyn, authorities said.
The three-alarm fire broke out in a deli on Buffalo Avenue near Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights around 6 a.m., officials said.
Four tenants from the four-story building, which houses a deli on the ground floor, were rushed to area hospitals in critical condition. A 79-year-old woman was taken to Kings County Hospital where she was pronounced dead. A man in his 50’s and an unidentified woman were taken to Kings County Hospital and subsequently transferred to Jacobi Medical Center in critical condition.
A 54-year-old woman was taken to Brookdale with life-threatening injuries, cops said.
Three firefighters also suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Fire marshals said there were no working smoke alarms at the scene, according to the FDNY twitter page.
Residents confirmed issues with smoke alarms in the building, while others described hearing alarms and the heavy smoke conditions.
Fourth-floor resident Clara Bagone says the one in her apartment did not go off, “My smoke alarm didn’t go off and it goes off when we cook.”
“Everyone was sleeping. My phone alarm went off before the fire alarm went off. I woke up, and there was smoke, and then the fire alarm went off. Everyone was in shock,” said Black Mos, 28, who lives on the fourth floor with his fiancée.
“The apartment was covered in smoke in 2 seconds. By the time we got down to the first floor, I couldn’t see 5 feet in front of me. I couldn’t breathe. It was so hot. I didn’t have a shirt on. I was looking for my fiancée. The whole back of the building was engulfed in smoke. It was terrifying, it was hot, ” Mos said.
“I don’t have a smoke detector in my apartment and I just called them yesterday to install one. The smoke woke me up. That’s how heavy the smoke was,” Ernest Peprah second-floor resident told the Post.
“We’re homeless,” Peprah added.
The Red Cross responded and is assisting roughly 43 displaced residents.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.