A firefighter was killed Thursday evening while battling a blaze in Brooklyn that left ten others injured.

Lieutenant John H. Martinson suffered a heart attack while fighting a two-alarm fire on the 14th floor of a 25-story building on Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights.

"I saw that the street was blocked off and I came up here and I saw that it was a bad fire," said an area resident who witnessed the blaze.

It took more than a hundred firefighters to contain the blaze, which was brought under control in little over an hour — still too late to save Martinson.

The 40-year-old was taken to Kings County Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Sources say Martinson had collapsed before he could be rescued.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the 18-year veteran of the FDNY a hero.

"It's just one of those great tragedies that sadly befall the people that put their lives on the line to save the rest of us," said Bloomberg.

Eight people were transported to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Two others were taken to the burn unit at Cornell Medical Center.

Fire officials say at least three firefighters were trapped in the building for nearly half an hour.

Martinson is the first FDNY member to die in the line of duty since the fire in the Deutsche Bank building last August.

The cause of Thursday night's fire is still under investigation.