BROOKLYN — Fourteen people were hurt — one critically — when a fire tore through a Borough Park apartment building early Monday, FDNY officials said.
The blaze broke out in the kitchen of a second-floor apartment at 1225 49th St., between 12th and 13th avenues, and quickly spread to the third and fourth floors around 4:25 a.m., the FDNY said.
Firefighters initially struggled to get inside the critically injured woman's apartment as she screamed for help, FDNY Deputy Chief Peter Leicht said.
"The door was lodged. We had to force entry," he said. "There was a woman in the rear bedroom. She was calling for help. She couldn't escape. There was iron gates on the windows so there's no way she could get out."
They eventually found her unconscious in a bedroom, Leicht said.
"They picked the woman up. They went past the fire and they exited out the apartment door and down the stairs,” he said.
She was taken by Hatzolah medical service to an area hospital, fire officials said.
Nine other civilians were taken to area hospitals in stable condition. Four firefighters were transported to Lutheran Hospital with injuries that weren't life-threatening, the FDNY said.
About 138 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control by 5:50 a.m., according to the FDNY.
Fire Marshals will work to determine the cause of the fire.
