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       #Post#: 155--------------------------------------------------
       A BLAZE IN BROOKLYN
       By: wolfie Date: February 20, 2011, 5:42 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       20 firefighters hurt battling Brooklyn blaze
       Updated 19m ago |  0 |  0
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       NEW YORK (AP) — Strong winds have meant several hours of work
       for hundreds of New York City firefighters trying to extinguish
       a fire that ripped through a six-story apartment building.
       By Paul Martinka, AP
       Firefighters stand on the fire escape as winds whip the flames
       from a five-alarm fire in the Brooklyn borough of New York late
       Saturday.
       Enlarge
       By Paul Martinka, AP
       Firefighters stand on the fire escape as winds whip the flames
       from a five-alarm fire in the Brooklyn borough of New York late
       Saturday.
       A fire department spokesman says at least 20 firefighters have
       been injured while battling Saturday's blaze in Brooklyn. None
       of the injuries are life-threatening. Four civilians also
       suffered minor injuries.
       The spokesman says strong winds have complicated firefighters'
       efforts at the building on East 29th Street, but they're making
       progress toward getting it under control as of early Sunday
       morning.
       The five-alarm fire was called in at about 6:40 p.m. Over 200
       firefighters were called to the scene.
       The building has about 70 apartments. The spokesman says a
       shelter for displaced residents has been set up at a nearby
       school.
       ****ADDENDUM TO STORY****
       Woman's Body Found In Wake Of Massive Brooklyn Fire
       By: Tara Lynn Wagner
       The city Medical Examiner is working to determine a cause of
       death, after a woman's body was found in the ashes of a massive,
       wind fueled fire Saturday in Brooklyn.
       The five-alarm fire began around 6:30 p.m. inside an apartment
       building located at 346 East 29th Street in Flatbush.
       The fire was brought under control around 2 a.m.
       Officials say the woman, identified as Mary Feagin, 62, was
       found on the seventh floor hours after the fire.
       Nearly 200 firefighters responded to the scene.
       Officials say crews battled the fire from the outside because
       conditions were just too intense on the inside.
       "Conditions changed rapidly. The fire intensified, the windows
       failed. Due to the heavy wind, it blew the fire in, on the
       members on the upper floors...a blowtorch effect. It actually
       chased them down the hallway," said New York City Fire
       Department Deputy Chief Stephen Moro.
       The victim was described by residents as a wonderful neighbor
       who had lived in the building for roughly 30 years.
       "She cared for everybody in the apartment, in the building. She
       cared for everybody in the building, for everybody's well-being.
       She was just a wonderful, wonderful woman," said one tenant.
       "We did the best we could to get to everybody and she was in an
       area that was impossible to get to at that time because we
       couldn't get past the fourth, fifth floor," Moro said.
       As of Sunday morning nearby tree limbs and sidewalks were still
       covered in ice from water used to fight the fire, making for
       slippery conditions as firefighters continued to put out small
       pockets of fire inside the building.
       Fire officials say 60 firefighters were treated for injuries
       along with 11 building residents.
       Tenants were allowed inside in small groups Sunday to retrieve
       clothing, medication and pets.
       "Everything. My bed is soaked. My daughter's room is...I really
       don't know what to say," said one tenant.
       "It's a mess a total mess," said another.
       "Some apartment is completely destroyed. Some apartment is wet.
       Some apartment you see the roof collapsed. Some of them is a lot
       of water coming down," said a third.
       The Red Cross was providing shelter for about 60 displaced
       residents as the investigation into the fire continues.
       #Post#: 206--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A BLAZE IN BROOKLYN.......THE CAUSE FINALLY FOUND OUT
       By: wolfie Date: February 27, 2011, 12:24 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Voodoo ritual, sex gone awry caused fatal NYC fire
       Instead of calling 911, the man first tried to put out the fire
       himself using water from a bathroom sink
       By Colleen Long
       The Associated Press
       Related Articles:
       Woman dead, 20 firefighters hurt in NYC apartment fire
       Union blames NY fire death on budget cuts
       Dispatch mix-up in fatal fire probed by FDNY
       Related content sponsored by:
       NEW YORK — Candles ringing a bed in a voodoo ceremony that
       included sex ignited sheets and clothing strewn nearby and
       caused a fatal apartment fire last weekend, a city official said
       Friday.
       The blaze started around 6:40 p.m. Sunday, when a woman visited
       a fourth-floor apartment in Brooklyn and paid a man $300 to
       perform a mystical ceremony that would bring her good luck,
       according to fire marshals with the Fire Department of New York.
       The man was known in the neighborhood as a priest, and the two
       were either having sex, or had sex when the fire started from
       the candles on the floor, though it's not clear if it was part
       of the ceremony, said the official, who had direct knowledge of
       the case but spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
       anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
       Instead of calling 911, the man first tried to put out the fire
       himself using water from a bathroom sink. As smoke began to
       gather, one of the other apartment occupants opened a window and
       propped the hall door open in an attempt to dissipate the plume.
       But instead, wind gusts shot the flames back inside, creating "a
       blowtorch effect" that pushed the fire into the hallway, the
       FDNY said.
       The occupants fled as the flames spread. Several 911 calls were
       made, but it's not clear if the man also phoned. The blaze
       engulfed the fourth, fifth and sixth floors, causing the floor
       and part of the roof to collapse. It took nearly 200
       firefighters about seven hours to bring the five-alarm blaze
       under control.
       One resident, 64-year-old Mary Feagin, was found dead. Her cause
       of death has not yet been determined and was pending further
       study, the medical examiner's office said Friday.
       Eleven residents and 20 firefighters were injured, and nearly 50
       families were left without a home.
       The FDNY is also reviewing a dispatching error that delayed
       getting water on the fire. One of the engines that had been sent
       to the fire was already at another emergency. The Uniformed
       Firefighters Association blamed the delay on recent firefighter
       staff reductions, though Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it had
       nothing to do with staffing.
       Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
       material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
       redistributed.
       Voodoo is religion, practiced primarily in Haiti and parts of
       Africa. It's not believed the ceremony that led to the blaze was
       an official rite, but rather a homegrown practice.
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