Three children are in critical condition after a devastating fire consumed their Brooklyn apartment on Sunday morning, FDNY officials said.
The three children, ages 8, 5, and 4, were alone in their 11th-floor apartment at the complex on Livonia Avenue, for reasons which remain unclear, when the inferno ignited at about 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 20.
The blaze was already well underway just minutes after emergency services got the call, according to the FDNY’s Chief of Department John Hodgens.
Firefighters busted through the locked apartment door and found the three youngsters unconscious; two were in the living room and the third was behind the door, said Hodgens. The children were removed from the apartment and given CPR before being taken to EMS waiting downstairs for critical care, all in the span of about 12 minutes.
“Thanks to the quick intervention of our members, those kids are stable at this point, but still in extremely critical condition,” said Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh.
Kavanagh said it’s not clear why the kids were alone, but said the children’s father has been arrested. A police spokesperson did not immediately provide further details as to the charges he faces.
The commissioner added that the apartment did not have working smoke alarms.
“There were very difficult conditions,” said Kavanagh. “There was a lot of fire, it was difficult to get into the apartment, and there were no smoke alarms working or present.”
NYCHA declined to comment.
The blaze came the same day as a massive inferno that injured ten firefighters and destroyed several businesses in Williamsburg.
