3 hurt in Wash Hts. apt. blaze

THREE PEOPLE, including two firefighters, were injured in a blaze in Washington Heights on Sunday, authorities said.

The fire broke out in a secondfloor apartment of the six-story building on W. 163rd St. near Broadway about 12:10 p.m. The blaze was accidental and caused by a candle, according to the FDNY.

About 60 firefighters responded and brought the flames under control an hour later.

The two injured smoke-eaters were taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia, officials said. One was in serious but stable condition and the other suffered minor injuries.

The injured civilian went to Harlem Hospital in serious but stable condition.

FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph Dudley said the resident of the apartment where the fire broke out may have left the door open when evacuating.

“We had a real problem on the top floor because of the heat. The fire was extending out of the doorway into the stairwell,” he told reporters at the scene.

Dudley said “a lot of people” who were on the building’s fire escapes “caused some extra problems for us as far as helping everyone down.

“The fire escapes were a little overloaded. We had to get some extra ladders,” he added. “We had some young kids, some elderly. We did have some handicapped people in the building.”