NY Daily News – March 31, 2016
by Kerry Burke, Andy Mai, John Annese
A raging six-alarm inferno sent flames tearing across five Brooklyn apartment building rooftops Tuesday, as firefighters searched floor-by-floor by flashlight for possible victims.
Five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the blaze that broke out around 10 p.m., on DeKalb Ave. between Knickerbocker and Wilson Aves. in Bushwick, officials said.
Families scrambled to escape the building, and two early responding cops helped one victim to safety. By midnight, the front facade of one buildings had collapsed, raining debris onto the street below.
Officials said the fire began on a rooftop.
“I got my daughter and my wife out just in time. That’s the most important thing,” said Jonathan Rondon, 22, a warehouse worker who lives in the building next to the one where the fire started.
Rondon said his smoke alarms never went off.
“If my neighbors hadn’t been screaming, we would have never got out.”
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro was at the scene and said the fire spread so quickly because an extension built behind one building partially collapsed.
“I hate to say it’s a typical fire for this area, but certainly over the years there’s been many fires like this — and unfortunately they do spread quickly and cause quite a bit of homelessness,” he said.
No comments yet.