A 56-year-old man miraculously survived a plunge from his fourth-floor window during a raging fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning, officials said.
Rufino Peralta helped his wife and older son escape the intense heat of the fire around 6:45 a.m. before returning to the flaming building to retrieve belongings, witnesses said.
When he tried to leave a second time, the door to his apartment was too hot, so he jumped from the window, tumbling about 15 to 20 feet onto scaffolding below, according to Vakeen Warmsley, 40, who lives in the six-story building in Red Hook.
“He told me he jumped because the front door was hot, Warmsley said. “He said the whole front of the house got hot. First, he got his wife and son out. We all heard the screaming about smoke, and we all ran out. Then he went back up. I don’t know why he went back up.”
He was taken to Lutheran Hospital, in serious but not life-threatening condition, officials said. Two other residents suffered minor injuries and were taken to the same hospital.