A fire broke out in a Brooklyn apartment on Sunday, August 2, trapping two adults and five children between the ages of two months and eight years old. The fire started on the second story of the apartment building, but quickly spread to the floor above, where the family lived.
Firefighters on the scene were met with a wall of fire coming out of the second story window — flames which initially prevented the firefighters from being able to reach the family in peril. Once the family was rescued, firefighters were able to control the fire about a half-hour later.
“They were up there and the smoke was coming out of the window — their heads were out of the window,“ said the father of the rescued family, who was at a local laundromat when the fire started. He also stated that the apartments in the building were not equipped with the proper fire safety equipment, such as smoke detectors.
Every apartment should have at least one smoke detector, and it’s the landlord’s responsibility to have the fire safety equipment up to standard.
The family and other residents attempted to throw their clothes and other possessions out the window to save them from the fire. Unfortunately, the pile has been swamped by the water used to put out the fire.
The rescued family was given oxygen on the scene, and did not have any injuries. There were four reported injuries from the fire, but no deaths. However, the flames left the rescued family, along with four other families, homeless. The New York Red Cross will be providing shelter for these families until further notice.
While there is no word yet on the cause of the fire, police are conducting a structural inspection of the property in search of what started the blaze.
