FIRES RAGE IN BX., B’KLYN
2 die, Bravest hurt
Firefighters battled two massive blazes in The Bronx and Brooklyn on Monday morning that left two people dead and more than a dozen hurt, authorities said.
Some of New York’s Bravest were among the injured, including one firefighter who was rushed to Kings County Hospital in critical condition, according to FDNY. He later recovered.
The fires broke out in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn and the Belmont section of The Bronx at around 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., respectively. It took several hours to bring them under control.
Two people were killed and 13 others injured in the Belmont blaze — which erupted in an apartment kitchen and spread rapidly after residents left a door open, officials said.
It was the second such tragedy in the neighborhood in less than three months.
“The apartment door was open, fire got out into the hallway and met our members right at the front door,” FDNY Assistant Chief Roger Sakowich explained on Twitter.
“The stairway was involved in the fire,” he added. “We had several people trapped on the second floor that were removed by our members.”
Paul Montgomery, 37, told The Post he was smoking marijuana inside his first-floor apartment when the blaze started ripping through the fivestory building at 2381 Hoffman St.
“I was worried about clothes and stuff — and my Rolex, and the title to the new Benz that I bought, I’m worried about that,” he said. “And then I found out people died and I felt bad.”
Firefighters plucked 10 people from the flames — including two secondfloor residents who were pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital, officials said. One was a teen found in the bathtub.
Eight others were taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where three people were listed in serious condition. Five firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The Bronx blaze bore striking similarities to another deadly inferno that happened near East 187th Street on Dec. 28. Twelve people were killed after officials said a 3-year-old boy playing with the kitchen stove sparked a fire — and his mother left the apartment door open in her rush to flee.
In Bed-Stuy, three injured firefighters were taken to the hospital with non-lifethreatening injuries, along with the one who was said to be critical. All four were later released.