FDNY: Residents seen jumping out of burning Brownsville apartment; 1 dead, 4 injured

One resident told News 12 she heard a bunch of commotion and quickly realized the building was on fire.

News 12 Staff and Faith Graham

Aug 15, 2023, 9:54 AM

Updated 494 days ago

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A devastating Brownsville apartment fire on Monday has left one person dead and multiple others injured, according to the FDNY.
Fire officials say the apartment building on the corner of Rockaway Parkway and Winthrop Street went up in flames starting on the top floor at around 2 p.m. While firefighters were able to put out the flames quickly, multiple people were injured.
Witnesses told News 12 some that were trapped leapt out of the building to safety.
Officials say a 49-year-old man is dead and four others were rushed to treatment with injuries. One other person is in critical condition, two others in serious condition and another suffered minor injuries.
One resident told News 12 she heard a bunch of commotion and quickly realized the building was on fire. She then says she watched people jump from the building.
Fire officials say that the building has a track record of violations recorded by the city's Housing Preservation and Development department, including an open violation for a missing smoke alarm on the sixth floor - where the fire started.
Residents spent their Tuesday revisiting the scene, with many of the apartments on that floor damaged inside and out. Some of them said that they complained before about their safety with smoke alarms, and that communication with their landlord has been little to none for years.
The FDNY's Fire Safety Education Unit shared fire safety tips and gave out smoke alarms a few blocks away at Winthrop and East 98th streets.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but fire officials have deemed it suspicious.
News 12 tried to reach out to the landlord, who is listed as No. 40 on the Public Advocate Worst Landlords list.