Brooklyn Fire Leaves 3 Children With Serious, Critical Injuries
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An early-morning fire at a residential building in Brooklyn has left several people injured, including four children.
As CBS 2's Janelle Burrell reported, firefighters arrived at the Wyckoff Gardens building on Third Avenue in Boerum Hill just after 2 a.m. The fire was contained to a fifth-floor apartment in the Wyckoff Houses, but the smoke was so thick neighbors said it traveled as high as the 15th floor.
Five people were hurt in the blaze and rushed to area hospitals. A small baby and another child are in critical condition, and another child is in serious condition. A fourth child and an adult suffered minor injuries, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
"I woke up about 2:30 in the morning," said 13th-floor resident Dennis Figueroa. "I smelled smoke. And I started going around the apartment. It was not in the apartment. ... I go out into the hallway, and it was pitch black (with smoke)."
It took crews about 20 minutes to get the flames under control but as CBS 2's Scott Rapoport reported, things could have been worse if not for the actions of a probationary firefighter who was responding to his first fire.
Rookie firefighter Jordan Sullivan described tough conditions at the Brooklyn blaze.
"Once we got in there we masked up and entered the fire apartment," he said, "The conditions were not good inside."
Sullivan fought through the smoke, located a crib, and rushed a baby out to a waiting EMS crew.
Fire investigators were still at the scene around 8 a.m. trying to pinpoint the source of the fire.
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