By David Matthews
New York Daily News
FREEPORT, N.Y. — At least 10 people were injured, including one critically, in an early Thursday morning apartment fire in Freeport, Long Island.
Multiple people suffered smoke inhalation, three were seriously burned and a fourth was left in critical condition after the fire broke out around 5:45 a.m. inside the basement of the building on Jay Street, the Freeport Fire Department said in a statement on social media.
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Nassau Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro confirmed to ABC 7 that a total of 10 people were taken to the hospital, three of them children.
The critically injured resident, a man in his 50s, became trapped in the bathroom of a basement apartment and was pulled from the blaze unconscious, the station reported. He was described as being in cardiac arrest and was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center.
The firefighter who rescued him was also being treated at a hospital.
The blaze caused damage to all three floors and has since displaced between 50 and 65 people, Uttaro told reporters at the scene. He said there “were no working smoke detectors in the area” of the building where the fire occurred.
The owner of the building has been issued violations for missing and non-working smoke detectors.
One resident told Long Island News 12 that she climbed the fire escape to the roof with her four children and 76-year-old mother, crossed over to an adjacent building’s roof and then climbed the fire escape down to safety.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The Village of Freeport Building Department will assess the damage before determining when occupants can return.
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