NEW YORK — A firefighter was killed after a ceiling gave way in a fire at a home in Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon and another person inside the home was also killed, city officials said.
The firefighter who died, Timothy Klein, 31, of Queens, had worked for the Fire Department for six years, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference later at Brookdale Hospital.
On Sunday night, investigators found another body inside the home but had not publicly identified the person, a city official said. Authorities believe the victim is a 21-year-old autistic man who was reported missing by relatives after the blaze, city officials said.
Klein died when the second floor of the two-story house in Canarsie became engulfed in flames, and the ceiling partially collapsed, fire officials said. He was the second New York City firefighter to die in the line of duty this year.
“It gives us great pain and sorrow to announce that New York City has lost one of its bravest, Timothy Klein,” Adams said. Dozens of police officers and firefighters dressed in gear were at the hospital awaiting Klein’s family.
Adams said the injuries of five firefighters were not considered life-threatening.
The unidentified victim was found after a police dog trained to detect human remains indicated their presence amid the rubble of the fire, officials said. After conducting a risk assessment with building and housing officials, firefighters went in and retrieved the body.
Fire investigators have not determined a cause for the fire, which spread to an adjoining home.
Fire Department officials said they were called to 108-26 Ave. N about 1:40 p.m. and found a private home with a peaked roof in flames. By 2:15 p.m., the fire was raised to a third alarm, drawing more than 100 firefighters to fight the blaze.
Klein’s father was a firefighter, and he had other relatives who worked for the department, Adams said. The mayor said Klein had spoken at the funeral for another firefighter, Steven H. Pollard, in 2019.
Klein said he was with Pollard the night he died after falling 50 feet from a Brooklyn overpass while responding to a two-car accident. The men were part of the same company, Ladder 170 in Canarsie.
At the funeral, Klein grew emotional as he spoke about Pollard’s sacrifice.
“Steven Pollard died not thinking of himself but trying to help others,” Klein said, his voice breaking. “We lost a true hero that night.”
Klein graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens before obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in sport management from York College of Pennsylvania, according to his profile on LinkedIn. After college, he briefly worked for the New York Rangers marketing department, as a youth basketball coach on Long Island and at an athletic training center in Manhattan, his profile said. He joined the Fire Department in December 2015.
On Sunday, Klein was on the second floor of the home with three other firefighters when the floor was engulfed in flames, fire officials said. The other firefighters escaped by jumping out of windows or climbing down ladders, but Klein was not able to get out. The other firefighters worked to reach him but could not get to him in time, fire officials said.
A firefighter, Jesse Gerhard, died in February, a day after responding to a fire in Queens. He suffered a medical episode at his firehouse after helping to evacuate a three-story home that was engulfed in flames.
In January, the worst fire in New York in three decades killed 17 people in the Bronx, including eight children. The fire was caused by a space heater and quickly filled the 19-story building with smoke.
Laura Kavanagh, the city’s acting fire commissioner, mourned Klein’s death at the news conference with the mayor.
“I cannot describe the heartbreak of the FDNY today to have lost a member doing what our members do best — putting their lives on the line to save others,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times .