Manhattan fire sends 4 children to hospital
NEW YORK -- Several children are in the hospital after a fire in Washington Heights.
Neighbors bravely jumped in to try to help.
Police are investigating whether a parent was at home at the time, but so far no one is in custody and no charges are pending.
Authorities believe the fire started on the fifth floor of the building on Audubon Avenue near 175th Street. Firefighters broke two windows as they went in to save the young children. At least two of the children are in critical condition.
A 1-year-old is among the children saved by the FDNY Wednesday night. The rescue came after the toddler's frantic sister ran into the hallway screaming for help, neighbors said.
"She's like, you've got to save my brother, he's in there," neighbor Jeslie Malena said.
"I was entering with my mom to get the little girl out, try and see if I can get in to get the two little babies, but I couldn't go forward because the couch was already on fire," neighbor Jayden Corrilla said.
"They tried to hold open the door to let the smoke out, and maybe see if the little kid could crawl out or something," Malena said.
Neighbors saw thick black smoke and called 911. They said firefighters also rescued a 4-year-old, as well as two 9-year-olds and a 29-year-old woman.
The FDNY said it had to rescue people by a tower bucket ladder and also within the building itself. It took firefighters nearly an hour to get the flames under control with the help of around 60 fire and EMS personnel.
Neighbors talked about the frightening moments before the FDNY arrived.
"I was asking my mom to get the little girl out ... got the window too," Jayden Corrilla said. "Nah, I didn't think twice about it. I just entered to see what can I do."
Yucania Germose said in Spanish, "When I went outside [into the hallway] what I saw was a little girl about this height crying. I came back in. I tried to pull the girl in and she's telling me, 'No, my siblings are inside the other apartment burning.'"
She said the fire was too strong to rescue the other kids, and it looked like a couch was on fire. That's when they called 911.
Police said the 1-year-old is being treated for smoke inhalation and suffered burns to his body.
"I saw one of them in critical condition when we were waiting outside," Malena said. "He just didn't look OK."
Thursday, the fire marshal returned to the building to investigate the cause. Neighbors said it did not appear an adult was home when the fire broke out, and police said a parent is being interviewed, but no charges are pending.
Malena said the smoke alarm went off, and she was the first to check out where it was coming from.
"They were panicking. They were screaming and shuffling. I looks in the peephole and I just see fire and I just see smoke," Malena said.
The two children in critical condition, 1 and 4, are being treated at Columbia Presbyterian hospital.
We are waiting to hear more details on where the parent was when this started and what is the cause from the FDNY
What police are trying to determine is if the parents of those three kids were home with the kids at the time of the fire.