Fire at Staten Island home sends mom fleeing with her children

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Twelve FDNY units and 60 firefighters responded Monday evening to a fire at a residence in New Brighton.

The blaze was reported just before 5 p.m. on the second story of a private residence at 16 Van Buren St., between York Avenue and Minerva Place, and was placed under control by around 5:45 p.m., an FDNY spokesperson said.

The home’s owner, Toniqua Jones, told the Advance/SILive.com she smelled smoke on the second floor and coming from the third floor attic before grabbing her children and running from the house.

Firefighters could be seen hosing down a blackened section of the third floor of the home while clearing and tossing burnt debris down to the street.

No firefighters or civilians were injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation, the FDNY spokesman said.