Cars block fire hydrants at scene of deadly Brooklyn fire
By Sonia Rincón
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BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) — One person is dead and two others are injured after a fire broke out at an apartment building in Brooklyn.
Flames were seen shooting out of the four-story building on 80th Street in Bay Ridge just after 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
A student was awake working on an assignment and she was able to get out with her roommate.
“The smoke was literally coming from underneath the floor, and then we were both like ‘we have to get out,'” said Diksha Bagade.
They saw a man, woman and child who live in the apartment below being taken out on stretchers. The 37-year-old man did not survive.
“When we were moving into the apartment, they were really nice and sweet, like ‘if you need something, please let us know.’ It’s sad now to think about what happened to them,” Bagade added.
Fire officials say there were cars parked way too close to the two closest fire hydrants, in the way of firefighters trying to get life-saving water from them at a time when there were victims in that burning apartment who needed help.
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker reminded New Yorkers in all five boroughs on Sunday to make sure you park your car 15 feet away from a hydrant.
“Seconds count and when your car is on a hydrant and a fire engine shows up, we need to get to that hydrant immediately,” Tucker said.
Firefighters did get to those hydrants – they say the snow was not an issue, but because those cars were parked there, it took longer to access the hydrants and there is no way to know at this point if they could have gotten to that victim early enough to save his life.
The victim’s identity has not been released – and the woman and two-year-old child are recovering from non-life threatening injuries.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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