A firefighter and civilian were killed, and multiple others injured, in a fast-moving blaze that erupted at a Brooklyn home Sunday afternoon, officials said.
The firefighter was identified as Timothy Klein, 31, a six-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department, Mayor Eric Adams and acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a joint statement.
Klein was one of more than 100 firefighters who responded Sunday afternoon to the three-alarm fire in Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood, NBC New York reported.
Eight other firefighters were injured in tackling the blaze, the FDNY said.
One civilian was also pronounced dead at the scene and another was treated for injuries but refused to be transported to a hospital, fire officials told NBC News Monday morning.
Klein and several other firefighters were inside when their supervisor ordered them out amid deteriorating conditions, the joint statement said.
Before Klein could escape, a ceiling collapsed, trapping and critically injuring him, the statement said. He was later removed by other firefighters and pronounced dead at a hospital, officials said.
Three other firefighters were also taken to hospitals with injuries, the statement said.
The conditions of the other injured firefighters weren’t immediately available. The cause of the fire remained unclear.
In the statement, officials noted that Klein delivered the eulogy for his fellow firefighter and friend, Steven Pollard, who died in 2019 responding to an accident on the Belt Parkway. Klein's father was also a firefighter.
“He bravely followed in their footsteps,” the statement said. “The hearts of the entire Department are with the Klein family and with the members of Engine Company 257 and Ladder Company 170.”
