2 Teenagers Slide Down Pipe to Escape Apartment Fire in Manhattan as Onlookers Shout 'Hold On'

Two teenagers are injured after escaping an explosivefirethat killed one man and critically injured a woman in Manhattan’s East Village Thursday, according to theNew York City Fire Department.

Though the teenagers have not been identified,WABCsaid the 18-year-old and 13-year-old were treated for smoke inhalation and burns from the fire that broke out around 7:15 a.m. on Avenue D.

“They were about to jump out the window, but everyone kept telling them, ‘Hold on! Hold on!’ " neighbor Tashaka Owens told the news outlet. “So when they held on, they got onto the side of the pole, and they started sliding down … and those kids, they made it down.”

In a statement provided to PEOPLE, FDNY Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro credited their “youth and athletic prowess” and “their ability to climb out a window and shimmy down a pipe” as a reason the incident “was not even more tragic.”

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According to Nigro, there were at least seven e-bikes in the apartment when the fire sparked.

“The intensity of this fire was such that it blew the windows out and actually blew a wall down within the apartment on top of the bed in which these teenagers were sleeping,” he said.

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“This many fires in a year is disturbing to me,” Nigro shared. “Going back a few years this did not occur. We all see these electric bikes all around us, so their numbers keep growing in the city. As their numbers grow, the danger will grow.”

“The only way we can prevent this loss of life is if we use these properly,” Nigro concluded. “Like anything else, use them safely. I urge everyone to understand the potential dangers of e-bike batteries and take this very seriously.”

source: people.com