5 year old boy killed in Bronx house fire, three others hurt

A 5 year old boy was killed and three other people were injured in a fire at a Bronx residence on Wednesday evening, officials said. The blaze broke out around 5:20 p.m. in the basement of a three story building at 4011 Barnes Ave. in the East Bronx, FDNY Deputy Chief Keith Scanlon said at the scene.

Firefighters arrived in about three minutes and encountered flames when they entered the basement, he said. “It was a hard stretch, it was tight quarters,” Scanlon explained. “Smoke was throughout the whole [basement],” he added. A 5 year old boy was taken to Jacobi Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Two women — ages 83 and 36 — and another child were also hospitalized with serious but non life threatening injuries, according to police and fire officials. No firefighters were hurt, Scanlon said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to FDNY..