Young boy dies in Brooklyn Center apartment fire

Updated Jan. 17 10:44 a.m. | Posted 6:30 p.m. Jan. 16

A 2-year-old boy died in a Brooklyn Center apartment fire Friday, according to public safety officials.

Fire Chief Lee Gatlin said the boy was found in a bedroom when firefighters arrived and was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.

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Firefighters were called at 11:29 a.m. to the 4500 block of 58th Ave. N. to find heavy smoke and residents evacuating the building.

The incident is still under investigation, but Gatlin said the fire appears to have started in a sofa.

"There was heavy smoke and fire in the apartment when I got up there to take a peek," Gatlin said. "If you were not equipped with personal protective equipment there was no way of going in there."

Gatlin said a sibling in his 20s was also in the apartment but was not injured.

The name of the child who died has not yet been released.

Editor's note: An earlier version of the story listed the boys age as 6.