Flatbush Fire Leaves 1 Hurt And An Apartment Destroyed, FDNY Says

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A fire tore through the first floor of an apartment building in Flatbush overnight, destroying one unit and sending one person to the hospital, according to the FDNY and a witness.

The blaze broke out around 3:30 a.m. on the first floor of the four-story building on East 21st Street near Dorchester Road.

Residents on all four floors quickly evacuated the building as it filled with smoke, one resident said. Police officers raced through the building, knocking on doors to wake people up and get them out.

"I woke up to hear screaming outside and realized my apartment - on the fourth floor - was filled with smoke," Kathleen Culliton, who lives in the building (and is a Patch employee), said. "I looked out the window and saw the flames."

Firefighters helped get people out.

"An extremely elderly lady who lives in my building was being led out by a firefighter," Culliton said. "She looked terrified and he, in the middle of chaos, was being so calm and gentle with her, helping her walk down the steps."

Sixty firefighters responded to the fire.

Charred debris from the apartment could be seen cluttered outside the building the next morning. The front door to the building had a shattered window.

One person was taken to Kings County Hospital with minor injuries, an FDNY spokesman told Patch.

"A neighbor told me the woman who lived inside it is okay," Culliton said. "It's sad for many, MANY reasons, but one of them is that the woman had all these beautiful plants growing in her windows. I used to love walking by them every day. Now all you see is a big, black hole."

Photos by Kathleen Culliton