FDNY investigating after 5-year-old dies in Bronx house fire
NEW YORK -- A 5-year-old boy was killed in a fire that broke out late Wednesday afternoon in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx.
Officials said two other people were hospitalized.
First responders found the child laying lying in bed in a basement apartment that was filled with flames and smoke. They rushed the boy to the hospital, but he did not survive.
FDNY crews were first called to the three-story building on Barnes Avenue off East 226th Street just after 5 p.m. It took 75 firefighters to put out the heavy flames in the basement unit, officials said.
In addition to that 5-year-old boy, authorities said an 83-year-old woman and a 26-year-old woman were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. CBS New York has learned both are stable.
Neighbors described the scene as chaotic and heartbreaking.
"Units arrived in roughly three minutes and encountered fire in the basement. It was a hard stretch, tight quarters," FDNY Deputy Chief Kenneth Scanlon said.
"There was a whole bunch of smoke billowing out of the windows and I see them running, trying to bring the babies out," neighbor Michelle Durrett said.
The fire marshal is now investigating what may have caused the fire.