Jul 30, 2009 1:25 pm US/Eastern
4-Alarm Fire Leaves Some B'klyn Residents Homeless
Reporting
Jay Dow
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
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Firefighters fought raging flames at a four-story building in Brooklyn just after midnight on July 30, 2009. All residents were forced to flee and have now been left homeless.
CBS
An investigation is underway to determine what caused a fast moving fire in Brooklyn.
Flames consumed the entire apartment building at the corner of 68th Street and 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
No one was killed in the four-alarm fire, but more than a dozen families were left homeless as a result.
One resident told CBS 2 his family was getting settled in bed when they lost power.
"All of a sudden, everything turned off. The alarm clock, the time on the cable box," he said.
Another resident named Edith was one of many who woke up to the sight and smell of thick, black smoke.
"Oh my god, I never saw a fire like that in my life," Edith said. "My television flashed off and I said, 'what was that?'"
It ultimately took three hours to bring the fire under control. Deputy Fire Chief James Leonard said the heat and humidity complicated the job.
Leonard also said the fact that residents wasted precious minutes by not calling 911 right away after they smelled smoke contributed to the difficult job.
"The fire was in all those void spaces," Leonard said. "So it got into all the walls and the ceilings, and it just required extensive overhauling by our guys."
Investigators have yet to determine an exact cause for this fire, but Leonard says fire marshals are likely to focus their attention on the corner deli.
The 1st floor deli is also adjacent to Yelena Kalendereva's beauty salon, which suffered significant water damage.
"We do everything here, or at least we did until this," Kalendereva said.
Kalendereva's insured and plans to reopen her business, but the fire and the water used to put it out caused major structural damage so it's very possible she and the building's other tenants won't be working or living there any time soon.
Many of the families displaced by the fire are now seeking assistance from the Red Cross.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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