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Massive Fire Disrupts Yom Tov, Forces Building Evac

CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — A massive fire broke out in a second floor of an apartment building on Carroll Street, just as families were sitting down for their Yom Tov meals. It took firefighters nearly a half hour to douse the intense blaze.

The fire broke out in the second floor of 1365 Carroll Street, which is on the corner of Kingston Avenue, in the apartment of an older man on Sunday, the first day of Shavuot at around 2:35pm.

According to eyewitnesses bright orange flames and plumes of black smoke came pouring out of the kitchen window in the inner courtyard of the building. One man sprung into action and climbed up the fire escape in attempt to help trapped residents in the building.

Firefighters took nearly five minutes to arrive on scene as bystanders watched in horror as people called for help from the upper windows of the building. When firefighters did arrive they were met with a fierce fire and many windows with bars, including the fire escape windows which they needed to saw open when trapped residents could not open them due to locks.

EMS reported that there were four injuries and thankfully none were serious. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

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16 Comments

  • Many Thanks

    Some thoughtful people brought out bottled water for the people who had evacuated the building

  • Basic common sense

    If you have to lock your window gates, keep a key taped near the window. Make sure the locks are in good working order & not rusted shut. Don’t forget smoke detectors (& CO2 as well.)

    5 minutes for NYFD to come from Albany/St. John’s??? That seems a long time.

  • by stander

    thank you the hatzalah members thank you for the person who sent away the reporters the fire started around 12:30 BH noone went to the hospital

  • SELFISH PEOPLE

    I DON’T WONDER WHY IT TOOK THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SO LONG TO COME. I SEE IT ALL THE TIME, THE FIRE ENGINES COME SCREETCHING DOWN THE STREETS WITH THEIR SIRENS BLASTING AND NO ONE MOVES OVER FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO PASS.

  • WHY WAS IT SO BAD???

    THE ENTIRE BUILDING HAD NO SMOKE DETECTORS, NOR THE HOUSES EITHER!!!

    EACH 1 OF US MUST MAKE SURE WE ALL GET SMOKE DETECTORS AND TELL ALL OUR FAMILIES, NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS TOO!!

  • If its True ?,

    If its True ?, which i find hard to believe that people in this particular building did not have smoke detectors. that is pathetic .

  • To # 2 and others....

    FYI the fire department was very fast… we called fdny and thgey came in 30 seconds not longer… + not exaggerating.

  • There are smoke detectors

    To #6
    There are smoke detectors. Please don’t talk without information.
    A neighbor in the apartment building

  • Abba

    Recently in my house the fire escape window was blocked meaning if there was a fire we couldn’t get out.Thankfully this has now been fixed and if chas vshalom there is a fire we will be able to get out.

  • concerned

    i cant understand why these building looks like prisons with security gates and window bars on windows that are out of reach for burglars. very dangerous. also padlocked window gates with no keys in sight is a recipe for death in a heavy smoke condition. its an easy thing to unlock when not under panic but in a bad situation seconds will feel like minutes when struggling to open these devices. i am glad no one was hurt.

  • Mendel Fitzhume

    If our Firefighters were delayed in arriving, we likely can blame mayor Bloomberg & NYPD commissioner Kelly who have severely hampered FDNY’s response time by taking away the FDNY dispatcher’s ability to immediately access & speak to the caller. It’s called ‘Unified Call Taker’ (UCT). The NYPD answers all calls that come to 911 & keep the caller on the phone rather than immediately switching them to the FDNY dispatcher. The NYPD dispatchers frequently give the fire department the wrong location or the wrong description as to the type of call. UCT places us all in great danger.