63-Year-Old Dead, Several Injured In Brooklyn Apartment Fire
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – One person is dead and several others have been injured after a fire inside an apartment building in Brooklyn.
CBS2's Christina Fan has learned a 63-year-old man died in the fire. Neighbors say he lived on the fifth floor of the housing complex in the Gravesend section.
First responders arrived at the scene around 1:40 p.m. Saturday afternoon. It took about 60 firefighters to get the flames under control. Witnesses tell CBS2 they could smell heavy smoke. One of them lived next door to the victim.
He told CBS2 his family tried knocking on the man's door and opening it, but the smoke was too thick and they were forced to evacuate. He added it was heartbreaking to see paramedics lift the man outside, try to revive him using CPR to no avail.
"Went outside… I looked in the hallway and I saw a whole bunch of smoke. My step daughter went outside and looked. She knocked on the door seeing if anybody was in there and saw the fire underneath the door and called 911," Christopher Stoudmire explained.
The fire marshal and investigators could be seen Saturday evening sifting through the remains of the victim's room.
In addition to the fatality, CBS2 has learned that two firefighters and one EMS worker suffered minor injuries. The injured were taken to Coney Island Hospital for treatment.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.