3 hospitalized after fire tears through Brooklyn building
NEW YORK - Dozens of families are now displaced after a fire ripped through a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn apartment building.
The Red Cross has extended housing assistance to 19 families.
Tenants had to run for their lives.
It was a terrifying night for families inside 28 MacDonough Street building. Angela Williams said she was in the shower when the fire broke out just after midnight Sunday.
"When I come outside to dry, take the towel to put around me, I see the smoke. And I couldn't breathe," Williams said. "I put on my clothes and run. The whole place was dark. You couldn't see nothing."
Video shows just how intense the fire was, with flames leaping skyward from the top floor of the building. The 3-alarm fire swallowed the top floor of the building just after midnight Sunday morning. The flames were so large, they could be seen shooting out of the roof, and the smoke billowed into the sky.
Some people couldn't evacuate through the main exit, so they were forced to use the fire escape as the flames consumed the floor above.
More than 100 first responders showed up on the scene. A firefighter reunited a boy with his loved ones. People were wheeled out on stretchers, and some neighbors embraced each other.
"The roof collapsed in each apartment," tenant Jackie Graham said.
Watch John Dias' report
"I was trying not to panic. I was like, get her out, me and her out," tenant Lavell Bailey said.
Three people were taken to the hospital with injuries after running for their lives.
"I am stressed, in disbelief, cant believe it, words cant describe how I feel," tenant Naomi Ezell said. "We're all sitting in cars. We have cars outside. We have nowhere to sleep. "
"Water damage. The roof collapsed in each apartment," resident Jackie Graham said. "Just trying to make sure my family is OK, trying to find a place to stay, because right now, we don't have a place to stay. We are basically homeless."The entire building is now under a vacate order. Firefighters allowed families inside to quickly grab whatever necessities they may need.
"Just a few piece of items to survive for a few days," tenant Anthony Gumbs said.
While families try to figure out their next steps, the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Any additional impacted residents who need recovery assistance should call 1-877-RED-CROSS (877-733-2767).
