B’klyn blaze kills boy, 12, grandfather

A 12-year-old boy and his grandfather were killed by a fast-moving fire in their Brooklyn apartment early Monday, neighbors and officials said.

The blaze broke out on the top floor of the five-story apartment building on Linden Blvd. near Flatbush Ave. in Prospect Lefferts Gardens about 1:50 a.m.

“The fire was very huge,” said Deborah Bruno, who lives on the second floor and escaped the burning building. “It was really scary.”

Medics rushed the boy to Kings County Hospital, but he could not be saved, officials said. His 69-year-old grandfather was taken to Downstate Medical Center and also died. Their names were not immediately released, but neighbors said the victims had recently joined in Fourth of July festivities.

“Tragic. Two people just died here,” said a neighbor who declined to give his name. “I just saw these people having fun. We’re going to remember this for a long time.”

Medics rushed an 82-yearold woman to Kings County Hospital in critical condition along with a 30-year-old woman in stable condition.

Kimani Roberts, 23, who lives on the second floor, was awake and listening to music when he smelled smoke and saw “flames shooting out of the window,” he said.

Neighbors said there was a loud boom as the building burned and that falling debris injured a woman outside.

“When the explosion happened one of the windows cracked and hit somebody,” Bruno said. “I heard somebody crying.”

The wounded woman ran inside to warn neighbors about the fire, Bruno said.

Bruno roused her cousin and grandparents so they could escape the building together.

“I’m still in shock,” she said. “I’m grateful I’m here.”

Another building resident, who declined to give her name, saw the debris hit the woman outside.

“When the debris came down and sliced her arm she didn’t know what was going on,” the woman said.