A Gravesend blaze ravaged a Benson Avenue apartment building on Monday morning, injuring five people.
The fire broke out in the first-floor apartment of a four-story building on the corner of 24th street at 9:06 am, and spread to the apartment above and throughout the ground floor through an open door, a Fire Department spokesman said.
About 60 firefighters rushed to the scene, where they struggled to quench the inferno. Firefighters smothered the blaze at 9:52 — almost an hour after the fire started.
First responders transferred five victims — one of whom is a 3-year-old girl — to a nearby hospital, News 12 reported. Two of the victims were transported in serious condition, but none of the injuries are expected to be life-threatening, the Fire Department spokesman said.
The fire comes exactly one week after a 63-year-old man died in a fire at the Marlboro Houses, a public housing complex located less than a mile away.
An ongoing investigation will determine the cause of the fire, the spokesman said.
