NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Eleven people were injured Tuesday after a man suffering a mental episode set his Bushwick apartment on fire and then stopped his neighbors from leaving the burning building, residents and officials said.
The injured included nine civilians—one with serious injuries and eight with minor injuries—and two firefighters, who suffered minor injuries, the FDNY said.
Firefighters responded around 3 a.m. to the four-story apartment building at 127 Evergreen Ave.
The FDNY fire marshal is investigating the official cause of the fire, but multiple residents said a man who lives on the first floor suffered a mental episode, lit a fire in his apartment and then tried to trap everyone by blocking the front door of the building.
"This individual does have mental illness," resident Lilia Soriano said. "We told the landlord multiple times before. So this time he essentially grabbed the door and wouldn't let us open it. So we were stuck in the smoke for a bit."
She said her father managed to break through the door and get them out as the hallway filled with smoke.
"We just pushed him out the way, and then all I could do was scream," Soriano said.
Moments before the fire, the man had been arguing with someone in the hallway, she said.
"He was just going a little crazy, and they just like told him to relax, and I guess that sent him off the edge," Soriano said.
The fire was brought under control shortly after 3:30 a.m. About 60 fire and EMS members responded, the FDNY said.
A number of families were working with the Red Cross to be relocated.
No arrests were immediately reported as the investigation continued.