FDNY praises firefighters that rescued mother and daughter from 2-alarm Bronx blaze
NEW YORK -- A mother and daughter were pulled out of a Bronx apartment fire on Sunday morning as the FDNY continues to work to determine the cause of the two-alarm blaze.
CBS2's Hannah Kliger has the latest developments from the Concourse Village section of the borough.
Flames broke out on the top floor of the five-story building at 1316 Morris Ave., at around 10:45 a.m. The FDNY said the fire quickly escalated to an inferno, with more than 100 first responders at the scene.
"My girlfriend, she was talking with my sister and all of a sudden she's hearing explosions and she ran out of the apartment," Miguel Hernandez said.
Hernandez said his sister lives next door to the apartment where it started. She made it out quickly, but video taken inside her home shows the damage she now has to deal with, including rain falling from the ceiling and the walls totally burned out.
"She's pregnant also, seven months' pregnant, so she was just trying to get out as soon as possible," Hernandez said.
The FDNY said two people -- a woman and a child -- were rescued and rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
"Found two victims in the back bedroom. They were forced to hold those victims there while the hose line was put into place and they successfully pulled both of those victims out of this fire, a mother and a daughter," FDNY Acting Deputy Chief Paul Miller said.
The FDNY said another civilian and a firefighter were injured, but, thankfully, both are expected to be okay. The fire was deemed under control less than 40 minutes later and the acting deputy chief praised those rescue efforts.
"These guys did an incredible job. This is the finest rescue that I have ever been a part of, that I have ever witnessed. They put themselves in harm's way to protect these two individuals," Miller said.
Canines and fire marshals later arrived to determine what caused the blaze, as workers in the building began cleanup efforts.
Neighbors said three people live in the apartment where the flames broke out, and two of them, the mother and daughter, were home at the time. Both were taken to NYC Health + Hospitals Lincoln for treatment.
