BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (PIX11) – A 9-year-old girl died in a house fire in Brooklyn early Friday, police said.
The FDNY was called to the scene of a multi-alarm fire on Howard Avenue, near Dumont Avenue, in Brownsville just before 5:25 a.m.
An entire family was sleeping inside the home at the time, including 9-year-old Payton, who was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD. The rest of the family members were expected to survive.
Payton’s uncle, Joseph Thompson, is an assistant pastor at the family’s church. He was devastated over the loss of his niece.
“I’m rather numb, but I feel the pain of grief to see my family have to live through this. We never want to be the people we talk about. We never expect to be on this side of it,” Thompson said.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created to support the family.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, flames had spread through the second and third floor of the home. Citizen App video showed the roof engulfed in fire. Flames and thick smoke billowed into the air.
A firefighter also suffered a minor injury, officials said.
It took nearly 140 firefighters from 33 units to extinguish the blaze. Clutter inside the home made it very challenging to work, officials said. The fire was brought under control just after 7:20 a.m., according to the FDNY.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
