Fire leads to daring rescue of 6 children in Brooklyn home
NEW YORK -- There was a dramatic rescue by neighbors during an early morning fire in Brooklyn.
It happened just after 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Witnesses tell CBS New York's Lisa Rozner parents threw their children from the burning home to good Samaritans below to save their lives.
The raging fire took over the stairwell of 212 Forbell Street in Cypress HIlls. People living in the first floor of the two story private home were able to run out.
"I was sleeping, and he's shouting 'Fire, fire my friend,'" Shatfiqul Islam said. "So then I wake up, and we all wake up, and running to the back side."
Islam said the family on the second floor was trapped, so they ran up to the roof and yelled to them below.
"We're all outside, and then we see they're on the roof. Like, six kids and a mother, they're all on the roof, and father," Islam said. "They're trying to throwing the kids, and tell us 'Take them, take them.'"
He said he and his roommates caught four of the children, and the parents jumped. The FDNY carried out two kids.
"They were screaming," neighbor Sahil Uddin said. "By the time really the kids got out, the whole house got smoked up right away. Couldn't see nothing. It was really bad
The FDNY said 60 fire and EMS personnel responded. It took them about an hour to bring it under control.
The Red Cross is assisting two households and trying to reach a third impacted by the fire.
Fahad Hossein came by to pick up his friend who lives there.
"They are safe, but they don't know what happened in the house," he said.
The FDNY said seven civilians have minor injuries and were taken to Jamaica Hospital.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The New York City Department of Buildings was also on the scene Tuesday. It's not clear if the landlord faces any violations.
