By Jennifer Glickel & Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Staff
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Five people were injured when a fire broke out at a Washington Heights apartment building Wednesday morning.
The two-alarm blaze started on the fifth floor of 130 Fort Washington Ave. near W. 165th Street, fire officials said. The call came in at 8:19 a.m. and the fire was out roughly an hour later.
All injuries were minor, the FDNY said. Four people were taken to Harlem Hospital. One person refused medical attention at the scene.
Twenty-five units responded to the fire, the FDNY said. The cause of the fire was under investigation, but was not deemed suspicious at this point, fire officials said.
Residents Tim and Gil Silverbird, brothers who perform as 2 Crazy Indians, were sitting in the one bedroom apartment — Tim was playing the guitar and Gil was on the computer — when they smelled smoke, Tim Silverbird said.
He then saw smoke, and the brothers fled the apartment, Silverbird said, leaving behind mementos and keepsakes from their performances and Native American heritage. Their apartment was damaged by the fire, dashing their dreams of fame as well.
"We have thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia from performances we've done, to family heirlooms we have. We have multiple thousand-dollar head dresses," Silverbird said, on the verge of tears. "We're almost famous, and now it's all gone."
