One firefighter was killed and eight were injured battling a fast-moving blaze in New York City on Sunday, officials said.
The firefighter who was killed 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 a house fire in Brooklyn’s Canarsie neighborhood, NBC New York reported.
The fire quickly moved from reports of smoke in the area to a three-alarm fire, the statement said.
Klein and several other firefighters were inside when their supervisor ordered them out amid deteriorating conditions, the 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.”