By Benjamin Fractenberg and Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Staff
EAST HARLEM — A woman and four young children suffered smoke inhalation and three firefighters were injured when a fire broke out Monday afternoon in an apartment across the street from Mt. Sinai Hospital.
The blaze started in a second-floor apartment at the six-story 1465 Madison Ave., fire officials said. Madison Avenue was closed from East 100th Street to East 102nd Street as firefighters battled the blaze. The call came in at 3:41 p.m., the FDNY said. The blaze was under control at 4:05 p.m.
Susan Oquendo, 59, who lives on the third floor, said she saw the woman and the children trying to get out of the building when they were "overtaken by smoke." Neighbors helped them escape the building. Fire officials at the scene said they were taken to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.
Three firefighters received minor injuries, fire officials said.
Fire engine ladders, extended parallel to the ground, penetrated the windows of the apartment to put out the fire.
Kendra Kearney, 26, was having lunch at the hospital when she saw the fire.
"I was eating. I looked out across the street and saw a fire," she said. "I was shocked."
She said she saw two people run from the building across the street to Mt. Sinai's Emergency Room.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation.
