Yahoo Finance 6 Injured After Brooklyn Apartment Building Explodes: 'We Just Ran Out,' Says Dad
An explosion inside a Brooklyn apartment building left six people injured and dozens of others without shelter.
Firefighters received reports of an explosion and ensuing fire at an apartment building in Cypress Hills just after midnight on Wednesday, a New York City Fire Department spokesperson tells PEOPLE.
"There was an explosion out the front," FDNY Deputy Chief Patrick Sheridan told reporters, according to the New York Post. "The first floor collapsed into the cellar, so we were unable to get searches of the cellar and the first floor of the original fire building."
Security footage published by WPIX from the time of the blast showed a large fireball erupt from the building, showering a nearby street with massive amounts of debris.
"I took everybody out," resident Edwin Rodriguez recalled to WABC. "My daughters went without no socks, no sneakers, nothing. I just took her, and we just ran out."
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FDNY Deputy Chief Patrick Sheridan provides an update from this morning’s 3-alarm fire at 58 Vermont Street in Brooklyn. Read more: https://t.co/MQme35aOHt pic.twitter.com/0wVGhW0rgU
— FDNY (@FDNY) December 1, 2021
Rodriguez and other residents said they complained of a gas leak on Tuesday and believe that is what caused the accident. When reached by PEOPLE, electricity and gas utility company National Grid said the incident was being actively investigated and directed inquiries to the fire marshal.
"Everybody kept saying they smelled gas," resident Mychelle Grullon said to WABC. "They smelled gas, but nobody went to figure out, like, 'Where's it coming from? Why is it happening? How to stop it?'"
"And then now this happens," she added, "and now a bunch of us don't have somewhere to sleep."
Six people experienced non-life-threatening injuries, and fire marshals are currently investigating the cause and origin of the explosion, the FDNY said in a statement. Only two of the six injured were hospitalized.
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"The whole wall came down," neighbor Henry Riquelme told WCBS. "The lady was screaming for help and her daughter. They were both hurt, they were under the rocks. So we had to go help them."
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According to WNBC, 54 residents from adjacent buildings are temporarily homeless as officials evaluate the integrity of the entire block.
