Authorities investigating Bushwick fire as possible arson
Tenants claim a man who lives on the first floor started the fire and then tried to prevent them from leaving by holding the door shut.
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Authorities are investigating a fire in Bushwick as possibly being intentionally set.
The FDNY says 11 people were hurt in the fire. It broke out on the first floor of a four-story apartment building on Evergreen Avenue just before 3 a.m. Officials say one tenant was left with life-threatening injuries.
Tenants claim a man who lives on the first floor started the fire and then tried to prevent them from leaving by holding the door shut.
Police confirm a man was observed starting the fire with a flammable liquid before fleeing the scene. As of noon, they say they had yet to take anyone into custody.
News 12's Rob Flaks joined a tenant of the burned building to take an exclusive look at one of the charred rooms.
"The kitchen and the bathroom are destroyed," said tenant Juan Garcia. "There is nowhere for us to stay. We can't stay tonight because my mother cannot breathe that air and my nephew, only four years old, he cannot breathe in that either."
Most of the tenants sat outside the building for hours in the extreme heat as they figured out where to go next.
The fire marshal is looking into the entire incident to determine the official cause.
