1 Killed, 16 Hurt In Early Morning Fire In Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One person was killed and more than a dozen others were injured after fire fire ripped through a building in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning.

The fire broke out just after 12:30 a.m. in a three-story apartment building with a store-front church on Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush.

Cellphone video showed flames pouring out of the building as firefighters raced to the scene.

Many residents said they were sleeping when the fire broke out and woke up to the sounds of screams and banging on their doors.

"It's very sad. I don't know what happened," resident Samuel Fevare told CBS2's Janelle Burrell. "Thank God I got out alive."

"I just saw flames and there was a lot of smoke and people crying 'help me, help me,'" said Katie Barcoo, who was among the first to call 911.

With a fire station just across the street, Barcoo said crews got to the scene quickly.

"I saw them with their flashlights and they were bursting in the windows trying to get in," Barcoo said.

Firefighters battled not only flames but also frigid temperatures, using their ladders to rescue those trapped and injured, including young children, Burrell reported.

Witnesses said it was a fast-moving fire.

"It was scary," witness Anita Williams said. "We seen the firefighters taking a guy from out the window during the fire and when they brought him down his body was steaming."

"I thought the fire was out. I come down and it's getting worse -- it's getting bigger and bigger," another witness told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck. "It was crazy."

In all, police said 17 people were taken to area hospitals. One of the victims, a 24-year-old man who was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, later died, police said.

As of noon, two people remained in the hospital in critical condition.

The city had previously issued dozens of violations to the building's owner. The building is coded for three units. People who live there said there were at least half a dozen subdivided units per floor, Burrell reported.

For the now-homeless neighbors, including many Haitian immigrants, they were left with uncertainty, only adding to their heartache.

It wasn't immediately clear what started the fire. Police did not release the name of the man who died.

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