NEW YORK — A lithium-ion battery caused a deadly fire at a Harlem apartment building Friday, according to the FDNY .
One person was killed , 17 were injured and dozens of people were displaced.
The raging fire forced dramatic and rare rope rescues.
“People was coming out of the building. The fire at the top. Side, you see the police coming down with the people, people jumping out the window,” neighbor Angie Ratchford said.
“Just what I have on me. My phone, my keys and this guy,” said Akil Jones, a resident who escaped the fire with his father.
Residents at the St. Nicholas Place apartment building were so desperate, many were forced to jump or use the fire escape , like Jones and his 85-year old dad, Emmett, who is a former Marine and retired parole officer.
“Luckily he was there ’cause [otherwise] might be a different story,” Emmett Jones said.
Emmett Jones says he was asleep while his son was cooking, but then the fire alarm went off.