Dozens of people were injured early Thursday morning after a massive five-alarm fire engulfed an apartment building in Staten Island.
WNBC reports 200 firefighters responded to the fast-moving blaze at about 1 a.m. But by the time they arrived on the scene, officials say massive flames and huge clouds of smoke were already billowing from the windows and roof.
Authorities told reporters the fire went up to fifth-alarm around 3:45 a.m., and they couldn't stop it from spreading to neighboring buildings. But crews were able to contain the blaze just before 7 a.m. (Via WNYW)
An FDNY spokesperson told the New York Daily News at least 34 people — including more than a dozen firefighters — were hurt. Fortunately, none of those injuries are considered to be life-threatening.
Two small children who were trapped in one of the three two-story townhouses that were destroyed are alive and well thanks to one brave couple that happened to be nearby.
According to the Staten Island Advance, a man and his fiancee helped catch the two children as their father frantically dropped them from a burning second-story window.
"The father threw his two kids out the window because all the smoke was coming out, he couldn't do anything for the kids. He had one of the kids still in a diaper." (Via WCBS)
The Staten Island Advance reports the two children and their father are all expected to be OK. No word yet on what caused the fire.
