Three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured after a raging fire ripped through a three-story apartment building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn early Sunday morning, prompting first responders to pull out what “looked like a barbecue,” neighbors told The Post.
Firefighters rushed to extinguish a three-alarm fire at 242 Albany Avenue in Brooklyn early Sunday morning at about 4:34 a.m., only to find large flames had quickly spread through all three floors of the residence, the FDNY said.
Three people, all from the same family, were taken to hospital with critical injuries. All three of them were confirmed dead last Sunday.
At least 14 other people were also injured in the massive fire, fire officials said.
“This is a difficult and dangerous operation,” said Chief of Fire Operations John Esposito.
“When you have a big fire on several floors of a building, it takes time to put it out. We had to stretch several hard lines to each floor. It was a very dangerous operation for our firefighters.”
An early morning fire broke out Sunday in Crown Heights, killing three people.
“At the same time, while we were trying to put out the fire, they were doing a search on the floor with a huge fire and more,” Esposito said.
Mayor Eric Adams said earlier Sunday that it was a “miracle” the fire did not spread to one of the buildings next door.
“We were very fortunate that the damage on both sides was contained,” Adams said. “You don’t see it spreading to any side, the building, which is a miracle.”
Neighbors who awoke in thick smoke said they saw burning victims being carried out of the charred building on stretchers.
The three people who died in the fire were all part of the same family, neighbors said. Citizens
Jason Thompson said he woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and saw thick smoke pouring through the bricks into his home.
“I started shouting ‘Get out! Get out!’” Thompson, 44, told The Post. “I have four children aged four to 18 so I’m just focused on getting everyone out.”
While his family made it out safely, Thompson said the last person firefighters brought out of the destroyed home “looked like a barbecue.”
“They were burnt. Lying on a stretcher,” he said.
The fire department took about two hours to put out the massive fire. Diego Luzuriaga (FreedomNewsTV)
Thompson said he’s known the next-door neighbor — a grandmother loved by everyone on the block and her son and grandson — for 40 years.
Thompson and other neighbors identified the dead as Ms West, her son Mike and grandson Jamal. The FDNY did not immediately confirm the victim’s name.
Housing records show the address is home to Albertha West, 81, Michael West, 58, and Jamiyl West, 33.
Neighbors identified the deceased as the beloved neighborhood grandmother, her children and grandchildren. WABC
“He is 85 years old, he just celebrated his birthday. I have known him for 40 years. Only good people we grew up with their children and grandchildren. They are like family. A very, very sweet person,” he said.
His wife, Veronica Thompson, 39, said she thanked God she woke her husband up before smoke filled their home, too, calling the early-morning fire “the scariest thing I’ve ever been through.”
Another neighbor, Joseph Cohen, 42, said it looked like first responders were performing chest compressions on one of the burn victims.
The fire also injured 14 other people, the FDNY said. Diego Luzuriaga (FreedomNewsTV)
“The firemen took the man out in a burning state. I saw them take him down to the ambulance. One of them was badly burned. He looked like a grown man in his thirties maybe. You can’t tell. They performed chest compressions on him,” he said.
A neighbor, a 28-year-old woman who declined to be named, said the family had suffered several tragic losses in recent years.
“I can’t believe Miss West is gone! Her son just died of a heart attack and her husband died 4 or 5 years ago. It’s horrible. His whole family is gone,” said the neighbor with tears in his eyes.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Diego Luzuriaga (FreedomNewsTV) The fire was brought under control at 6:32 a.m., the FDNY said. Diego Luzuriaga (FreedomNewsTV)
The fire also caused a firefighter to be seriously injured but not killed.
Firefighters responded to the scene within three minutes and 20 seconds, the FDNY said.
The fire was brought under control at 6:32 a.m., the FDNY said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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