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Police Injured in Williamsburg Apartment Building Fire, Sources Say

By  Ben Fractenberg Murray Weiss and Aidan Gardiner | April 10, 2014 2:37pm | Updated on April 10, 2014 6:48pm

 An NYPD sergeant and a police officer were hospitalized with minor smoke inhalation after a large fire broke out in a four-story apartment building in Williamsburg.
An NYPD sergeant and a police officer were hospitalized with minor smoke inhalation after a large fire broke out in a four-story apartment building in Williamsburg.
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Roy Renna/BMR Breaking News

BROOKLYN — An NYPD sergeant and an officer were hospitalized with minor smoke inhalation after warning residents of a raging fire in a Williamsburg apartment building Thursday afternoon, witnesses and sources said.

More than 100 firefighters fought the blaze that broke out in the rear of the four-story building at 32 Scholes St., near Lorimer Street about 1 p.m., the FDNY said.

Officer Eml El-Soraly complained of trouble breathing and chest pains, sources said. She, and Sgt. Adria Hannis, were taken to Woodhull Hospital for treatment.

The sergeant and the officer were driving by in their radio car when they heard building tenants screaming and rushed in to knock on doors and warn residents, witnesses and police said.

"He went with no fear into that madness," Christina Frey, 39, who lives on the second floor, said.

El-Soraly, the mother of five children, rushed up the the second floor and grabbed a 1-year-old baby, then ran out with the child's grandmother close behind.

The sergeant helped and elderly man safely out of the building.

No civilian injuries were immediately reported, the FDNY said.

About 106 firefighters finally brought the blaze under control about 1:45 p.m., the FDNY said.

The officer's injury came the afternoon after another officer, Dennis Guerra, died from injuries he sustained while responding to a Coney Island arson fire that was set by a "bored" teenager.

Fire marshals had yet to determine what sparked Thursday afternoon's fire, the FDNY said.