{"id":7512,"date":"2025-06-23T08:15:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T08:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/7512\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T08:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T08:15:25","slug":"brooklyn-basement-fire-kills-retired-mta-worker-neighbors-tried-to-save","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/7512\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn basement fire kills retired MTA worker neighbors tried to save"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 66-year-old retired MTA worker died after being trapped in a Brooklyn basement fire<\/a> despite his neighbors\u2019 best efforts to save him, the Daily News has learned<\/p>\n

Patrick Kirton couldn\u2019t escape the basement after the fire broke out in his family home on E. 40th St. near Avenue I in Flatlands at about 6:35 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Kirton died after a basement fire in his home on Wednesday in Flatlands, Brooklyn. (Rebecca White \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Neighbor Rodneil Harris rushed over to assist the Kirton family after Patrick\u2019s wife called him over, saying Patrick was trapped in the basement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThe smoke was hurting my eyes, so I ran back outside for a breath of fresh air. My friend\u2019s two sons, they came, smelled the smoke, and all three of us made our way downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris and the two boys kicked down the basement door but were met with intense smoke that forced them to retreat outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe room was completely dark, and the smoke, it just looked like a void,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

Neighbor Portia Niles, 46, witnessed the neighbors\u2019 brave rescue attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they kicked down the door, all the smoke came up,\u201d she said. \u201cAll three of them came up coughing and choking. They couldn\u2019t go further in. There was no way.\u201d<\/p>\n

She saw first responders then arrive and pull Kirton out. Around 60 firefighters and EMS members responded to the scene.<\/p>\n

Kirton and an 86-year-old woman were rushed to Kings County Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was definitely not conscious,\u201d Niles said. \u201cI saw when they were performing CPR in the ambulance. They were doing the pumping-the-chest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was barely hanging on,\u201d she added. \u201cHe was alive when he got to the hospital. They put him in ICU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirton was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital but later died from his injuries. The woman, who suffered smoke inhalation, is expected to recover.<\/p>\n

The powerful blaze blew out the building\u2019s windows, leaving glass shards on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Kirton died after a basement fire in his home on Wednesday in Flatlands, Brooklyn. (Rebecca White \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Neighbors spoke highly of Kirton, who was from Barbados, and were devastated to learn of his death, calling him a \u201cstaple\u201d of the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Kirton retired from his job with the New York City Transit Authority a few years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw him maybe a few days prior to the fire. He was just sitting in his car. Talking. I waved to him and said \u2018Hi.\u2019 That\u2019s the last time I saw him,\u201d Harris said. \u201cHe was a funny guy. We\u2019d be sitting here, pass by, and he\u2019d start cracking jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would always exchange city stories,\u201d Harris added.<\/p>\n

Harris remembered when Kirton would frequently count down the days until retirement and was eager to spend his newfound free time traveling and relaxing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrick was cool as a cucumber, Niles said. \u201cHe\u2019s a father, a brother, an uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five other people in the home were displaced by the fire, which was brought under control at around 7:19 p.m.<\/p>\n

FDNY fire marshals are still investigating the cause of the fire.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 22, 2025 at 4:16 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 66-year-old retired MTA worker died after being trapped in a Brooklyn basement fire despite his neighbors\u2019 best…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1121,2451,3059,5295,1370,728,405,403,5294,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,5293,5321,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-7512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-county","12":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-local-news","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-new-york-county","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-newyork","20":"tag-newyorkcity","21":"tag-ny","22":"tag-nyc","23":"tag-nyc-crime","24":"tag-sub-county-region","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-of-america","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114731687836821251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}