FDNY: Kids playing with stove caused Bronx fire; firefighters critical

WAKEFIELD, Bronx (WABC) -- A 4-alarm fire in the Bronx Tuesday left three firefighters hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

The fire was caused by children playing with fire on a stovetop, authorities say.

The fire broke out at about 12:30 p.m. in a two-story occupied private dwelling on East 235th Street off Carpenter Avenue in the Wakefield section.

The FDNY said the fire spread to four other structures. One hundred seventy firefighters from 40 units responded.

34-year-old firefighter Patrick Morello was diagnosed with heat stroke.

His job was to cut a vent hole in the roof to prevent the fire from spreading, and when he came down from the roof he collapsed outside, the FDNY said.

Another firefighter, 44-year-old Sean O'Rourke, was hurt in an accident driving the fire truck from Queens to the Bronx.

The third firefighter, 51-year-old Joseph Brady, suffered a heart attack.

All three are in critical but stable condition at Jacobi Hospital

One lieutenant, 54-year-old Joseph Martorell, suffered serious burn injuries but was treated and released.

The three are expected to survive.

No residents in the buildings were hurt.

"When I came out I saw the black smoke coming down the stairs," said Sharon White, who lives in a first-floor apartment. "We ran out, they were trying to get the grandmother out, she's sick. And they were trying to get her out, and they fell down the stairs."

NewsCopter 7 was over the scene of the fire:

The Red Cross is working with eight families to provide emergency housing and other immediate needs.