HomeTop Stories2 young children in critical condition after fire at Brooklyn apartment building

2 young children in critical condition after fire at Brooklyn apartment building

NEW YORK – Two children, including an infant, are in critical condition after a fire broke out in their Brooklyn apartment building Wednesday morning.

The fire started around 6:15 a.m. in a first-floor apartment in the building on Bay 19th Street between Benson Avenue and 86th Street. According to the fire department, the residents ran outside and left the door open, causing the fire to spread.

“Leaving the fire door open causes all kinds of problems, not just for the apartment directly involved, but for your neighbors as well,” said Joseph Duggan, FDNY chief deputy.

A total of six firefighters and 10 civilians were injured, including a 5-year-old boy and his 5-month-old brother, according to the FDNY. Officials say the two children and their father were taken to a local hospital in critical condition. All other victims suffered minor injuries.

Neighbors say the father is now resting at home while his two children, who suffered smoke inhalation, remain in Maimonides.

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The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Neighbors in the Bay 19th Street building use fire escapes to escape the blaze

Farhan Ali lives in the apartment across the hall from where the fire broke out.

“You couldn’t see anything. It was like black, everything was black,” he said.

He said the fire alarm in his apartment woke him up and he opened the door to see what was going on.

“When I opened it, believe me, it was horrible. I couldn’t see anything. Screaming, people crying,” he said.

Ali, along with his wife and three children, escaped out the window and down the fire escape.

“Thank God we are safe, but still I just pray for my friend’s children,” Ali said. ‘They are in critical condition. They are currently on a ventilator.”

Naela Tariq and her family also had to flee via the fire escape.

“We weren’t wearing any shoes or socks, and it was horrible. We didn’t know how to get out of the building,” she said.

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Tariq says she has only been in the building for four months, and Wednesday was the first day of her new job after what she called an uphill battle and many interviews.

“It was the first day and my clothes were completely filled with smoke. And everyone was asking for it, and yet, you can see, I still have the smell of smoke,” she said.

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