Feb. 09--An 8-year-old boy was killed and 16 others were injured on Saturday after a fire tore through a row of apartment buildings in Hempstead, displacing more than 200 residents, fire officials said.
Another resident of the building, a 40-year-old woman, is in critical condition atNassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, said Hempstead Fire Department Chief Scott Clark.
Details of how the boy died were not clear.
The blaze started at 6:20 a.m. Saturday on the third floor of 917 St. Pauls Rd. North and was extinguished at 11:30 a.m., Clark said. It could be weeks before residents can return to their homes because the buildings do not have electricity or gas, he said.
Among those injured was a woman who suffered a heart attack, a pregnant woman and three firefighters who were injured by debris to their eyes, Clark said. Also hurt were two children that neighbors said were tossed from a third-story window, fire officials said.
The fire forced more than 250 residents from five adjoining apartment buildings, many still in their pajamas, out of their homes and into the icy, snow-covered streets before sunrise.
"We heard screams and got out in just our underwear," said Miriam Gonzales, 33, who lives with two roommates on the second floor of the apartment building where the fire began.
The 13 persons injured included two children -- the youngest believed to be about 3 -- who lived in the unit where the blaze may have started, witnesses said.
Multiple residents of the building said they saw a woman throw the children out of a third-story window to save them from the fire.
However, Clark said there were reports that the woman may have used a rope to lower the children out of the window.
The status of the children and of the woman was not immediately available.
The victims were taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and Winthrop Hospital in Mineola. The woman who suffered a heart attack was taken out of the building on a stretcher and transported to Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre.
More than a dozen area fire departments worked to extinguish the blaze, officials said.
Residents of the apartment building said they awoke to loud screams in Spanish of "fire" and immediately raced down fire escapes and stairways.
Carlos Varohona, 42, who lives in a neighboring apartment building, said he heard a loud "pop" and then saw people fleeing into the street.
"The material things can be replaced, but the lives of other people are the most important," he said.
The third floor of the building was destroyed and the roof was caved in, Clark said. The building, which has 15 apartments, is now uninhabitable, Clark said.
Residents of four adjoining apartment buildings were also evacuated: 909, 911, 913 and 915 St. Pauls Road North.
Roughly 70 residents were taking shelter Saturday at a recreation center at Kennedy Park, Clark said. The Red Cross was on the scene and providing assistance.
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said the fire marshal has been unable to enter the building and that the cause of the blaze is unknown.
Clark said that Friday night's blizzard delayed the response, but that crews were on standby to assist in the operations. Frozen fire hydrants were also a challenge, he said.
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