12 people suffered personal injury in a 6-alarm fire that spread over several buildings in Brooklyn, NYC

12 people were injured in a fire in New York City Tuesday night. 4 of the victims were transported to the hospital. One of them suffered serious injuries. The other victims were treated on location for smoke inhalation and other minor injuries.

According to the NY Daily News, the fire started on a building rooftop around 10:00 pm on Dekalb Ave between Knickerbocker Ave and Wilson Ave and spread to four other rooftops. Families who lived in the building were able to escape the building  with the help of two early responding police officers. The firefighters who arrived shortly after searched every floor for potential victims.  A resident told the NY Daily News that his smoke alarm never went off and that the screams from other building residents alerted him to get out.

According to the FDNY commissioner, Daniel Nigro, an extension built behind one of the buildings partially collapsed and triggered the fire to quickly spread to the other buildings. By midnight one of the building’s front facades had collapsed. Several apartments were damaged during the fire leaving 90 people homeless.

Further investigation will be necessary to determine what caused the fire.

Picture source:NYC Alert pic.twitter.com/sFnoTLYNsN

The day before 7 people were injured and a dog died in a fire in nearby Williamsburg. The fire also started at night on the first floor of a building located on Metropolitan Ave near Driggs Ave. According to the NY Daily News, the fire and the smoke propagated in the building because the first floor residents left their door open. Residents of the above floors couldn’t get out and had to use the fire escape to wait for the firefighters to rescue them. Among the 7 people injured, 5 suffered minor injuries and two were seriously injured.