Mother, son killed in overnight apartment fire in Crown Heights
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A mother and her son were killed after a fire tore through their apartment in Brooklyn overnight.
Fire broke out on the third floor of an apartment building at 446 Kingston Avenue just before 11:05 p.m.
Firefighters rushed to control the blaze as heavy smoke spread throughout the building.
An 80-year-old woman and 59-year-old man were taken to Kings County Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The victim's longtime friend, Sandra Higgins, is stricken with grief.
"I usually call her mom because she looks after everything like my mother, very beautiful," Higgins said. "We were together yesterday. We bought fruits, got on the bus and then we get off at my stop, I said love you be safe. She said OK see you."
A next-door neighbor said the 80-year-old victim was originally from Barbados.
"Every time she would visit Barbados, she would bring me something back," neighbor Octavia Payne said. :She was pretty friendly. They were good. Her son worked nights. I assumed he wasn't there because I thought he was at work but then he was also in the apartment so they both perished together."
One firefighter inhaled smoke and was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Sources say there was some clutter in the apartment that may have contributed to the blaze.
"Luckily those who are saved are saved and it didn't go further, but it's very unfortunate that two people had to die in a fire like this," one neighbor said.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.
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