Brownsville, Brooklyn High-Rise Fire Leaves 8 Injured
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- At least eight people were injured Friday afternoon when a fire broke out in a public housing high-rise building in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
As CBS 2's Joe Biermann reported, the fire broke out on the 12th floor of the 22-story building at 315 Sutter Ave. in Brooklyn. The blaze was raised to a second alarm.
The building is part of the Langston Hughes public housing development. The building is fireproof and designed to contain fires to small areas, 1010 WINS reported.
At least eight people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, officials told CBS 2.
A mother and her seven children were inside the unit when the fire started, but they were not among the injured.
But they were without a home Friday night.
"My kids – I take them to my friend's house, but after that, we need to find out where we are going, because right now, we don't have nobody to go," said tenant Sioly Ramirez.
Police said several officers also came to the aid of a woman who was on the 12th floor when the fire broke out.
According to authorities, police officers heard a woman's cry for help and crawled on the floor while thick smoke billowed above until they found the woman standing in her apartment doorway struggling to breath.
With the 57-year-old woman unable to walk to the stairs on her own accord, officer Lawrence Avvenire placed the woman over his shoulder and carried her to the stairwell, where she was able to catch her breath, police said.
Officer Adnan Dizdarevic then joined Avvenire and the woman in the stairwell as it began to fill with smoke and the two officers assisted the woman down the 12 flights of stairs.
She was taken to Brookdale Hospital for smoke inhalation. The officers were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The fire was out by the 6 p.m. The cause was under investigation late Friday.
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