Man dies in Bed-Stuy apartment fire

The fire broke on 440 Jefferson Ave. around 2:30 p.m. on New Year's day.

The FDNY at 440 Jefferson Ave.
The FDNY at 440 Jefferson Ave.

A man died following an apartment building fire in Bedford-Stuyvesant on New Year’s Day.

Michael Floyd was killed in the fire at 440 Jefferson Ave. near Throop Avenue around 2:30 p.m. after the blaze broke out on the second-floor stairwell landing before spreading to the third and fourth floors, DNAinfo reported.

Floyd, who lived on the third floor of the four-story building, was found on the third floor and declared dead at the scene.

“It was a very heavy fire. It was unusual that it started in between second and third floor staircase it’s not a usual place for a fire to start,” said Battalion 57 Chief Edwin Travers.

Two other unidentified adults, a man and woman, were trapped inside the building but were rescued and treated for smoke inhalation.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

First-floor neighbor Marlene Taylor said she was on the phone with DirectTV when she heard a commotion from the fire.

“I saw him New Year’s Eve,” Taylor said of Floyd. “He said to me, ‘Happy New Year, if I don’t see you.’ And that was it.”

Another tenant was forced out on the ledge of one of the upper floors by the flames before he was rescued by the FDNY’s ladder truck.

Fire marshals are currently investigating the incident. [DNAinfo] – TRD