Crown Heights Fire Leaves 1 Dead, Another Injured

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — One woman is dead and another injured after a blaze tore through a Crown Heights brownstone early Thursday morning.

The fire started around 1 a.m. inside the home on Pacific Street, between New York and Nostrand avenues, officials said.

Firefighters found an 81-year-old woman who was unresponsive and later pronounced dead, authorities said. A 49-year-old woman had burns on her hands and was taken to Cornell University Hospital in stable condition, police said.

The women are not related, officials said.

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Another man in the building on the fourth floor climbed down a wire to get out of the building, according to reports.

He kicked out the air conditioner in his window and repelled to safety, the New York Daily News reported.

"I couldn't wait on the fireman," the man, Eric Burk, told NBC New York. "I saw the cable wire and just took my time and came down."

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