Firefighters smashed through a fourth-floor apartment window Sunday to rescue four people found critically hurt inside a Manhattan building.
The afternoon fire triggered a quick response from the FDNY to the building near 190th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue. Video showed black smoke coming from a window as crews worked to get control of the flames.
Officials with the FDNY said four people were found unconscious inside the Washington Heights apartment.
"My heart was racing a lot, beating really fast. I didn't know what to do, I was just standing," said Valery Tabares, a resident of the building.
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Tabares' family lives on the first floor of the building, and it was her mom who phoned in a 911 just before 1 p.m. when the fire broke out.
"All of a sudden they were bringing out the people, they weren't conscious, they were just there and they started doing CPR to two of the people," she said.
Firefighters carried the four victims out of the building. Officials said aid teams helped resuscitate the injured people rushing them to a hospital in critical condition.
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Tabares said one of the victims is a 98-year-old woman everyone in the building calls Mamita. Her caretaker and two men were the ones taken to the hospital -- all of them were in the same apartment, Tabares added.
Tenants in the building worried about their injured neighbors are also waiting to hear what caused the fire. A charred e-bike pulled out the building has raised question, but no cause has been officially determined.
"An e-bike was found in the apartment. The fire marshals determining right now whether it was involved, the cause, or just there," Deputy Assistant Chief Brian Gorman said.
