NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A 4-year-old girl who is fighting for her life was among 12 people hospitalized in a fire that tore through an apartment high-rise in the Bronx early Sunday morning, officials say.
The young girl and a 19-year-old man were both badly burned and taken to an area hospital in critical condition, according to the FDNY.
The inferno broke out around 1:45 a.m. on an upper floor of the 16-story building near Garden Street and Crotona Avenue in Belmont.
Witnesses told reporters that the fire began when someone threw fireworks into a trash compactor.
The FDNY couldn’t confirm that, but they said they do believe the fire began in the trash chute.
Chanelle Williams described the horrible scene to ABC 7.
“I seen one lady, it looked like her skin was coming off,” Williams said. “She was burned and there was people out here with no pants on, no clothes on.”
Another woman said she heard breaking windows and saw a lot of smoke as she rushed out of the building.
Citizen App video shows dozens of people outside the building amid a heavy police and fire presence.
It's unclear how many people were displaced by the fire.