Mom, Son And Grandson Killed In Brooklyn Fire; 14 Injured: Authorities

NEW YORK — An elderly woman and her adult son and grandson perished after an overnight fire struck a Crown Heights building Sunday, leaving another 14 people injured, according to authorities.

Firefighters responded around 4:30 a.m. to a residential structure in the 200 block of Albany Avenue, authorities said, noting heavy flames on all three floors.

Three people were taken to the hospital in critical condition, where they were pronounced dead, according to the fire department.

Police identified the victims later Sunday as 81-year-old Albertha West; her son, Michael West, who was 58; and her grandson, Jamiyl West, age 33. The three generations lived together in the Albany Avenue building, police said.

The other 14 victims included a firefighter who suffered injuries that were serious but not life-threatening, according to the fire department.

“This was a difficult and dangerous operation,” Chief of Fire Operations John Esposito said in a social media post.

“When you have heavy fire on multiple floors of a building, it is time consuming to extinguish. We had to stretch multiple handlines to each floor. It’s a very dangerous operation for our Firefighters. At the same time, while we are trying to extinguish the fire, they’re doing searches on the floor with the heavy fire and above that.”

Photos from the scene posted on social media by the fire department showed smoke and flames billowing from the windows.

Fire marshals were investigating the incident.