At least 21 people were injured, including a 78-year-old woman who was left in critical condition, when a massive fire ripped through a Queens home on Saturday morning, officials said.
The FDNY received a call about the growing blaze at 9:52 a.m. on 41st Road near College Point Boulevard in Flushing, which quicky escalated to a five-alarm fire by 10:40 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.
Fire officials say the fire started on the first floor of a two-story a nearly century-old, wood-frame home in a row of five buildings. Two of the buildings were ablaze when firefighters arrived, and the inferno quickly reached a third building, Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods said.
“These buildings in this row of five … they were built in 1930, so they’re all wood. Wood-frame buildings,” Woods said, according to CBS News.
“The walls are wood, the floors are wood, the roof is also made of wood, so fire travels very, very rapidly. Very difficult for us to get ahead of these fires and extinguish.”
Over 250 fire and EMS members responded to the scene as the fire spread, according to the spokesman.
Video from the scene shows smoke billowing out of the building, while photos show firefighters on stretchers with one receiving oxygen.
At least one resident was trapped inside the building where the blaze broke out fire before firefighters rescued the person from the second floor, according to officials.
Of the 21 injured, 17 were firefighters — although their wounds were not considered life threatening. All of the victims were taken to local hospitals. The injuries included heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and minor sprains, according to Woods.
The elderly woman left in critical condition was also taken to the hospital.
The building sustained damage forcing multiple residents to be displaced. The Red Cross was on the scene Saturday helping the families impacted, the outlet reported.
The fire marshal’s office was investigating the cause of the blaze, officials said.
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