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New Yorkers were left aghast as a massive Brooklyn house fire left three people dead and over a dozen injured. The tragic incident took place early on Sunday, November 12, 2023, at the Crown Heights, a three-storey residential building on 242 Albay Avenue.
The responding crew from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) found all three floors building engulfed in flames as they arrived on the scene around 5:00 am. According to Chief of Fire Operation John Esposito, it took more than 130 firefighters to combat the flames and smoke.
"We found a three-story building that had heavy fire on three floors, heavy fire out the top-floor windows, out the second-floor windows, in the doorway, and fire in the first floor as well," he added.
While the Brooklyn house fire was contained by 6:30 am, three people from the same family were critically injured and rushed to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced dead.
14 others who were injured were treated on scene or transported to the hospital, making it 17 people injured in total. A firefighter also suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
“I started yelling ‘Get out! Get out!'": Brooklyn house fire neighbors recount the incident
FDNY's John Esposito explained that combating the Brooklyn house fire was a "difficult and dangerous operation," as the fire had spread across multiple floors and it was time-consuming to extinguish.
Esposito elaborated that they had to pull multiple hardlines to each floor to combat the fire and at the same time continue searching for those trapped.
Jason Thompson, 44, woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom when he was alerted to the thick smoke, and immediately rushed his family out. He told the New York Post:
"I started yelling ‘Get out! Get out!' I have four kids ages four through 18 so I was just focused on getting everybody out."
The Brooklyn house fire triggered a 3-alarm response. It denotes the seriousness of the fire and the subsequent response by the fire department. The more vehicles like fire trucks, tankers, rescue vehicles, and command vehicles, the higher the alarm designation.
Hours after the harrowing morning, NYPD officials confirmed that 81-year-old Albertha West along with her son Michael West, 58, and grandson Jamiyl West, 33, died in the fire. Additionally, six others were injured in Crown Heights, and the rest were from those in adjoining buildings.
Thompson and other neighbors helped identify the three victims.
"She just had her birthday. I’ve known her for 40 years. Just lovely people we grew up with their kids and their grandkids. They were like family. Very very sweet people," added Jason.
A neighbor told the NY Post that the West family recently suffered tragic losses, her husband died a few years ago, and her son too just died of a heart attack.
Crown Heights was significantly damaged and pretty much everything inside was destroyed. Mayor Eric Adams remarked that it was a "miracle" that the fire did not spread to either of the side buildings.
It remains unconfirmed what started the Brooklyn house fire and whether fire alarms were working in the building.
