Nearly two dozen people injured as monster fire rips through wooden apartment block leaving resident trapped
Nearly two dozen people were hurt and one person left trapped after a fire ravaged a New York City block.
The blaze erupted just before 10am in a two-story wooden building in Queens and spread to a row of five buildings.
The flames triggered a five-alarm response with 250 firefighters swarming the scene.
When they arrived, they found two buildings already engulfed by the fire, and a resident trapped inside the first building on the second floor.
Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods said his department used multiple hand lines to ‘aggressively’ and ‘deliberately’ tame the flames.
Woods said firefighters were able to get above the fire and rescue the resident.
At least 23 injuries have been reported, including two civilians. One suffered critical injuries and the other was transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
Seventeen firefighters and two paramedics suffered various injuries in the blaze, including heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and minor sprains.
Five wooden buildings caught fire on a Queens street on Saturday morning
FDNY rushed to save a resident trapped in the second floor of the first building
Officials said over 250 firefighters and emergency personnel responded to the scene
At least 21 injuries have been reported, including 17 firefighters, two METs and two building residents
‘These buildings in this row of five, they were built in 1930, so they’re all wood. Wood-frame buildings,’ Woods told reporters.
‘The walls are wood, the floors are wood, the roof is also made of wood, so fire travels very, very rapidly. Very difficult for us to get ahead of these fires and extinguish.’
Firefighters got the blaze under control by 1.47pm, FDNY said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Fire Marshals remain on the scene as they carry out their investigation.
