At 6 p.m. Wednesday about 100 firefighters responded to a fire in a five-story building at 177 Church St. near Reade St. A fire fully engulfed the ceiling between the first and second floors. Firefighters using a ladder bucket rescued two adults and two children, ages 1 and 3, from a third floor apartment.
A fire department spokesperson said an ambulance took two people from the building to New York Downtown Hospital, one with smoke inhalation and the other with a leg injury. The spokesperson did not know the ages of the pair rushed to the hospital. A firefighter was also injured, but not seriously.
Upon a secondary inspection, firefighter Patrick O’Grady of Ladder 6 found two small dachshunds under a bed. He carried them out and to an ambulance, where paramedics administered oxygen. O’Grady said the dogs were fine.
Two ground floor businesses, Express Shoe Repair and Spring Back Rub & Foot Rub, suffered extensive damages.
Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire.
