Firefighter falls through floor battling Queens fire
NEW YORK - A mother and her children were rescued from a three-alarm house fire in Queens Monday afternoon.
A firefighter battling the blaze was among the injured.
Flames and thick smoke poured out of 62-53 60th Road where the fire began and quickly spread to the adjoining home. The smoke was visible from miles away.
The FDNY said it responded within four minutes. About 140 firefighters and 33 units were on the scene at one point.
A nearby resident described what he saw.
"Saw this house on fire, a lot of smoke coming out of the windows. Just a lot of rushing. Called 911," Jorge Solis Peina said. "We saw three people coming out of the window. There was a mother with the two kids they were able to get out of the house before getting seriously hurt."
The FDNY says five people suffered minor injuries, including a firefighter.
"The floor had a partial collapse in the floor, and he fell into the floor through the basement, but he's fine," FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Sarrocco said. "He's got minor injuries. Nothing life-threatening at all. He's very lucky."
The children were rescued by firefighters when they responded to the scene.
"They were thankfully, by the teamwork by fire and EMS providers, all able to be treated and taken to area hospitals and evaluated as a precaution," FDNY Division Chief Kathleen Knuth said.
Everyone made it out of the home, along with a religious statue from Ecuador that was slightly burned and broken, but still in one piece.
The Red Cross was also on scene, assisting the displaced families.
"We're talking to people that lost everything, either in the fire itself, water, fire damage, able to get out with just the clothes on their back," Celena Sarillo of the Red Cross said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
