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4 FDNY firefighters, newborn, 17 others hurt in NYC blaze

A total of 22 people were injured, two critically, in the early-morning high-rise fire

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This photo shows the aftermath of an apartment building fire that injured 22 people, including four firefighters and a newborn, in Manhattan on Tuesday morning. The FDNY said the fire started in an apartment where the door was left open and spread throughout the building, and urged residents close their doors while escaping a fire.

Photo/New York City Fire Department Facebook

Associated Press

NEW YORK — A fire erupted in an apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side early Tuesday, injuring 22 people, two of them critically, according to the Fire Department of New York.

The fire was reported around 2 a.m. on the 24th floor of a building on East 72nd Street.

A newborn baby was among those hurt, according to WABC.

The critically injured patients were found unresponsive in a doorway, where they appeared to have collapsed while trying to escape, WABC reported.

A door was left open in the apartment where the fire started, allowing the flames to spread into the hall, officials said.

“We had numerous phone calls from apartments above, complaining about smoke, people trapped, all due to the fact that that door was left open,” said Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Ferrante. “Had the door been closed, this would’ve been a one-apartment, one-room fire.”

Those hurt included four firefighters. Their injuries were minor.