Two young women were in critical condition after getting trapped inside their Brooklyn apartment building as it went up in flames, authorities said Thursday.
A 55-year-old woman told firefighters her two daughters were trapped inside the burning building in Crown Heights around 1:35 a.m. Firefighters rushed into the burning unit to rescue the sisters, without having time to set up a water hose.
“She lived to make it out, and then she told us there were two other people inside,” a firefighter at the scene said.
“They had to make a push without water because they knew somebody’s there,” the firefighter said. “Even though they didn’t have protection of the hose line, they were still able to get inside.”
A 24-year-old woman and a 26-year-old woman were found in an apartment on the second floor of the four story building. After firefighters rescued the women, EMS performed CPR at the scene.
Both women were rushed to Kings County Hospital, where they were in critical condition, an FDNY spokesperson said. Three other residents — including the young women’s mom — sustained minor injuries, the spokesperson said.
“The mother was burned on here face, right here,” said the building superintendent, gesturing toward his eyebrow. “And not bad on her hand, because she tried to go back inside to get the girls,” he said.
The superintendent, who identified himself as “Neil,” said he spoke to the woman’s sister. “She’s doing fine now. She’s in the burn unit at Staten Island,” he said.
FDNY confirmed a resident with minor injuries was taken to Staten Island University Hospital North. Another was taken to Interfaith Medical Center, and a third person declined medical attention.
Sali Dia, who lives in the building with her mother, described her flight from the building after noticing smoke in the building’s hallway.
“There was smoke coming out so I jumped up, and I woke up my family,” said Dia, 29.
“Most of … the people in our building, they was getting out,” she said. “\I was knocking on everybody’s window, ‘get up, get up, you gotta get out.’ Everybody came down on the fire escape,” adding: “I went back for my cat. And when I went back to get my cat, I realized my apartment was full of black smoke.
“The fire department kicked down my door and told me to get on the fire escape,” Dia said. “So I took, me and my cat, on the fire escape, and we waited.”
The fire was under control by 2:15 a.m., according to an FDNY spokesperson.
The cause of the blaze is still unknown as fire marshals investigate.
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