Two FDNY firefighters and five civilians, including two children, were injured during a three-alarm house fire in Maspeth on Monday morning.
A mother and her two children were briefly trapped inside their burning home in Maspeth on Monday morning before they were rescued by FDNY firefighters.
The FDNY responded to an 11:52 a.m. call reporting heavy smoke and fire at a 2-story private home at 62-53 60th Rd. near Fresh Pond Road. Units arrived on the scene four minutes after the call and discovered heavy fire on both floors and raced inside where they found the mother and her children and led them to safety. The FDNY transmitted a third alarm just after 1:05 p.m., bringing 33 units and 145 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene.
Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood closed off a two-block stretch of Fresh Pond Road from Eliot Avenue and 60th Drive to vehicles and bicycles, according to the NYPD.
Paramedics at the scene advised that the mother and her children suffered minor injuries. They were transported by EMS along with another civilian to Elmhurst Hospital.
“We will pray for this family tonight,” one neighbor said. “This is devastating for this area.”
Another neighbor added, “This fire moved swiftly and quickly. I hope everyone made it out.”
One FDNY firefighter suffered a non-life-threatening injury after he fell through a floor into the basement. He was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with minor burns, according to the FDNY.
A second firefighter and a third civilian were transported by EMS to Wykoff Hospital in Brooklyn with minor injuries. A fourth civilian refused medical attention at the scene of the blaze.
The blaze was brought under control at 1:38 p.m. and FDNY fire marshals are probing whether or not exploding lithium-ion batteries sparked the inferno. A Hazmat Unit responded to the scene but it was not clear if they disposed of any exploding lithium-ion batteries.
Additional reporting by Lloyd Mitchell
