GREENPOINT — A fire ripped through a Jewel Street apartment Friday morning, setting off a dramatic rescue by neighbors, the FDNY and witnesses said.
The blaze broke out at 56 Jewel St., near Norman Avenue, about 9 a.m. in the first-floor apartment of the building's superintendent, officials and residents said.
That's when Andy Trimbach, 34, helped the superintendent — who feared his wife was trapped inside — break the door to the apartment down.
"Smoke started pouring out," Trimbach, who lives in the building, said. "You couldn't see two feet; it was just black."
The apartment was empty, and the super's was found outside the building a short time later, Trimbach said.
Witnesses said a good Samaritan also scaled the four-story building in desperate efforts to rescue trapped residents.
Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading and extinguished it about an hour later, officials said.
Eight people, including four firefighters, were injured. They were taken to Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan with minor injuries from smoke inhalation, fire officials said at the scene.
Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.