A 17-day-old baby girl is still missing after a raging four-alarm fire tore into a New York City home, killing one and injuring nine others.
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) responded to the ‘heavy fire’ at the two-and-a-half-story house in Queens just before 7pm on Monday.
FDNY told the Daily Mail the fire broke out on the first floor and quickly spread, even igniting neighboring homes.
According to Assistant Chief David Simms, the FDNY received reports ‘at the height of the fire’ that two residents were still missing.
‘We had good intelligence that they both were living in the basement,’ he said.
Water lines were cut and specialized search units waded through four feet of water to find one of those residents, a 34-year-old woman, dead.
First responders had to stop searches through the rest of the basement ‘due to a localized collapse.’
As of Tuesday afternoon, the baby girl was still nowhere to be found. The missing victim is believed to be trapped under the water and debris.
Seven civilians were reported injured and one was reported dead after a fire broke out in Queens on Monday
One baby girl is still missing after the two story home collapsed under the flames
Officials reported seven other injured civilians and two firefighters with minor injuries.
Four people jumped out of the windows to escape the flames, while two others were rescued from the second floor.
Two of the victims were children, aged just 10 and 13 years old, reported CBS News.
A 22-year-old man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after suffering burns to 99 percent of his body, according to Fox 5.
‘The skin was melting off his face and body,’ a witness told the New York Post.
One firefighter fell through the deteriorating first story and had to be pulled to safety.
The second floor of the building completely collapsed, and the roof was destroyed.
Two other properties were ‘heavily damaged,’ and residents of adjacent buildings were ordered to vacate.
Flames spread so rapidly that even a car in front of the building caught flame.
Approximately 200 first responders assisted with the four alarm fire on Monday night
The blaze affected two adjacent homes and even spread to cars and powerlines
Tow firefighters were subjected to minor injuries during the lengthy rescue
Civilian videos and photos of the fire showed billowing black smoke, crackling power lines and massive flames shooting out of the home.
‘The whole thing was going up so fast,’ one person told CBS. ‘It was terrible.’
More than 200 emergency responders helped in the terrifying aftermath, reported ABC7.
The fire was finally under control around 1am on Tuesday.
The cause is still under investigation and none of the victims were publicly identified.