A mother and three of her young children were killed early Monday morning when ta fire broke out in their Brooklyn apartment.
The fire started around 2:30am, on the second floor of a home on East 14th Street in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood.
A couple, their six children and a cousin were asleep in the house at the time.
A mother and three of her kids were killed in an early morning house fire in Brooklyn, New York on Monday
The fire broke out around 2:30am on the second floor of a home in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood
‘It was early morning, everyone in the home was asleep,’ FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. ‘The fire gets started and it got a good start before a neighbor noticed and called us.’
‘The fire traveled very quickly,’ Nigro added. ‘The fire went from the first floor front, up the stairs to the second, again up the stairs to the attic.’
Firefighters responded to the scene within three minutes of getting a call from neighbors, but it was too late to save the mother and three of her kids.
The 40-year-old mother, a three-year-old daughter, and two sons, ages seven and 11, were found dead on the second floor of the home. They have not been identified by name.
The father and two teens were rushed to the hospital in critical condition
A couple, their six kid sand a cousin were asleep in the home when the fire broke out
The father, his three other kids, and the cousin got out safe.
At least of the kids, a teen boy, was seen leaping form the building. The others escaped through a side door.
Ten people were injured in the blaze, including two firefighters. Five were hospitalized including three in critical condition. The three who were in critical condition included the father and two teens.
The family who lived in the home are reportedly Jewish, and the tragedy comes in the middle of the Hanukkah holiday.
Fire officials are still investigating what caused the fire to break out.
‘This is a terrible tragedy, not just for this community, but for our city. This time of year, when these things strike, it just tears your heart out for the family,’ Nigro said. ‘Our city grieves with this family today.’