by Taunia Hottman
Fire officials are still investigating what caused a serious fire in Queens yesterday. NY1's Taunia Hottman filed the following report from Astoria.
A soggy street in Astoria tells the story of Sunday afternoon's two-alarm fire.
"We had a heavy fire condition on the top floor, through the bulkhead, and on the roof," explained FDNY Chief Ken Stefanek.
The fire grew so large and so quick that residents barely had time to get out alive. One woman described how her sister was trapped – and completely unaware.
"Somebody came to the window and said, 'There's some fire upstairs!'" said resident Antidoni Papakosta. "So, her boyfriend went upstairs to help her because she was sleeping."
When she awoke, the fire was so strong that the only way out was through a window. With firefighters on the way, quick-thinking neighbors grabbed what they could to soften her landing.
"My stepsister, she was in the window. She was ready to jump without a mattress there, without anything. Some of the guys around here came to help her," said Papakosta. "They brought the mattress, so everything is fine."
In the end, only two residents were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Fire officials say as many as seven firefighters suffered minor injuries.
The three-story building suffered major damage.
"There's damage to most of the top floor and the roof area," said the fire chief.
Investigators are now looking into how the fire started, as residents whose apartments were gutted look for a new place to stay.
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