CROWN HEIGHTS — Nine people were injured in a fire that engulfed three buildings on St. Marks Avenue Wednesday morning, FDNY said.
Neighbors said they saw a 14-year-old boy jump three stories from a window to escape the flames.
The blaze originally started in the top floor of 1230 St. Marks Ave. about 11:06 a.m., FDNY spokesman Jim Long said. The fire spread to the neighboring floors of the three-story apartment buildings at 1228 and 1232 St. Marks Avenue, Long said.
Lisa Atchison, 58, who lives at 1232 St. Marks Ave., heard screaming coming from the building next door and then heard neighbors yelling "Jump! Jump!" to a boy peering out of a third-floor window at 1230 St. Marks Ave.
She then saw the boy leap from the window, she said.
"[I'm] in shock," Atchison said.
Fire officials could not confirm if someone jumped from the window.
Sherise Marshall, 29, who lives on the third-floor of 1232 St. Marks Ave. with her 7-year-old son, was about to shower before she heard screaming and her apartment filled with smoke. She then grabbed a robe and her son and ran out of the building, she said.
"Had I been in the shower, we would not have made it," Marshall said.
While her family made it out without injuries, her belongings were destroyed in the fire, she said.
"I'm more worried about the things I've lost," Marshall said. "My mom and my dad passed away and whatever I had left of them was in there."
Michelle Wilson, 58, who lives on the block but not in a building consumed by the blaze, took in one of the families who lost its home in the fire.
"We all [grew] up around here as kids," said Wilson, who's lived on the block her whole life.
Approximately 138 firefighters responded to the fire, which was under control by 12:45 p.m., Long said.
Five firefighters and four people were sent to Kings County Hospital for minor injuries and smoke inhalation, FDNY officials said.
The Red Cross has provided temporary housing for nine households, including 20 adults and nine children, and will also offer emergency funds, according to a statement released by the organization on Wednesday afternoon.
Fire marshals were investigating the cause of the blaze but said it did not appear suspicious, the FDNY said.
