A fire broke out on the top floor of a Prospect Heights apartment building on Friday afternoon, injuring a woman who was trapped inside, witnesses and fire department officials said.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and rescued resident Annika DePaula from the flames, said Peter Entner, a former resident of the apartment who witnessed the fire.
“She said she walked in her room and the curtain was on fire,” said Entner, who lived with DePaula and two other roommates at the duplex apartment on the fourth and fifth floors until a week ago.
The flames began at about 12:36 pm on the fifth story of the Underhill Avenue residence, between Pacific Street and Washington Avenue, and took 60 firefighters to extinguish, a fire department spokesman said.
“The whole fifth story was on fire,” said Entner, owner of the neighborhood pizza joint Pete Zaaz, adding that many of his belongings were ruined by the blaze. “Everything was completely destroyed.”
DePaula suffered burns on her arms and hands and was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center where she was listed in stable condition, the fire spokesman said.
The cause of the fire, which was brought under control about 30 minutes after it sparked, is under investigation.
Reach reporter Natalie Musumeci at nmusumeci@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4505. Follow her at twitter.com/souleddout.
