2 found dead in Bath Beach, Brooklyn fire may have been injured before blaze, sources say
NEW YORK - There are questions after two men were found dead in a suspicious fire.
Autopsies are scheduled to take place Monday to determine what killed them.
Police sources said it appears the men had injuries to their bodies that could've occurred before the fire.
It happened Sunday night in Bath Beach, Brooklyn.
The fire happened of the second floor of a building at 159 Bay 29th Street Sunday at around 6:45 p.m. Some residents said they heard shouting, and one man said he was in the apartment hours before the fire.
Cell phone video shows the intense flames engulfing the apartment. It took 60 firefighters about an hour to get it under control.
Firefighters found the two men dead inside the apartment. Police sources said one had trauma to the head, and the other had a puncture wound to the neck.
One man said he was actually there in the apartment napping hours before the fire but left as two men who he described as drunk argued.
"I've been living here for two years, so we've had, like, three or four incidents with them when they would get drunk, fall asleep and have something on the stove which would be turned on and over time start burning and the fire department would come put it out," he said.
Another resident said they feel lucky to be alive after the fire.
"When we opened the door, we smelled it and saw it. I says 'Let's go, get the stuff and get the hell of here.' When we got out here, we saw the flames coming out like it was a rocket ship," the resident said.
"I saw the smoke, heard the smoke alarm. I knew it was something big," Othman Mars said.
"People were walking downstairs. The door was open. The guy was on fire. They couldn't help him," one person said.
Cleanup continued Monday at the four story building, which has commercial units on the ground floor. Two were left unable to be opened right now.
FDNY fire marshals are investigating the cause and the medical examiner is determining how the men died. Their identities have not been released.
The Red Cross assisted residents forced to evacuate.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
