10-Year-Old Boy Dies in Brooklyn Apartment Fire

Photo via Google Maps

A fire tore through the third story of an eight-story building in the Louis Heaton Pink Houses — an affordable housing complex on Loring Avenue in City Line, Brooklyn, run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) — on Thursday night.

A 10-year-old boy died in the fire, according to the NYPD.

When firefighters responded to the fire around 9:40 p.m. and entered the building, they found one person already dead at the scene, an FDNY spokesman told Patch.

“Upon arrival, officers determined a fire began inside Apartment 3H during which an unconscious and unresponsive 10 year-old male was found by Fire Department Personnel,” the NYPD said in a statement.

By the time the FDNY had extinguished the fire around 10:15 p.m., he said, three more building residents had been ”green-tagged” for minor injuries — but refused medical attention at the scene.

Patch has reached out the the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the identity of the boy who died; we’ll update when we hear back.

A neighbor told the New York Post that the 10-year-old victim was asleep in his bedroom when the fire broke out Thursday night — and that his “anguished” father tried multiple times to save him before he died.

“The fire was quick and strong in the room,” said the neighbor, Lisette Martinez. “The father tried to get in to save him, but the smoke and flames stopped him.”

The boy’s three siblings were reportedly able to escape the fire.

Freelance photographer Lloyd Mitchell arrived to the fire in time to catch firefighters dramatically ripping a child-protection gate off a third-floor window.

City records show that a few years back, a resident from 1257 Loring called the Department of Buildings to report exposed wiring one of the apartment’s bathrooms. The caller reportedly said that when whenever the light switch was turned on, the light bulb would blow up.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.