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The fire broke out on the second floor of the four-story apartment complex run by the New York City Housing Authority on Rockaway Parkway near Lenox Road in East Flatbush. Reports of the fire came in just after 6 a.m.

It took about 130 firefighters an hour to bring it under control.

Three residents were taken to the hospital, two with serious injuries. One of the fire victims, a 70-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Five firefighters also suffered injuries when a floor collapsed beneath them.

Residents were rescued from fire escapes and the roof, and dozens in their pajamas or less were forced outside into the bitter cold.

"We had to force entry. We had to bring people out from ladders, off the roof, from our buckets, off the fire escape. We had to remove a lot of people," said FDNY Deputy Chief Stephen Moro. "There was smoke throughout the whole building. Heavy fire on two floors with extension to the top floor."

"We couldn't make it through the front door so we just went to the fire escape. There was smoke everywhere," said one building resident.

"We realized it was a fire and I got my family members and we got out the building," said another. "When we got down to the lobby, the whole building was full of black smoke."

After talking with firefighters, one neighbor was left wondering if new staffing rules hampered the FDNY at this fire.

The firefighters who responded Friday morning were from one of the 60 busy engine companies that have cut the number of staff per engine from five to four, in line with other companies.

FDNY officials say the move should save the city $30 million, but East Flatbush resident Daniel Goodine said one of the firefighters told him the work is more exhausting without the fifth man.

"When you're fighting a fire this size and looking for someone to be on the end of the line and there's a lot of pressure, and you're tugging line to save a life inside, and your partner's not there. This is something that we've got to talk about," said Goodine.

An FDNY spokesman said with two engines on scene within five minutes, a lack of manpower in pulling the water hose was not an issue at the call.

The Red Cross is assisting about 50 people who have been left out in the cold. At least four units of the building were left completely uninhabitable by the blaze.

It is unclear what sparked the flames, but some residents said that heating in the building had been very low and so they had begun using space heaters.

The building now is being heated by a mobile boiler unit sitting in front of the building, outside.