Fire in Brooklyn brownstone kills two longtime septuagenarian neighbors

Two longtime friends and neighbors — both in their 70s — were killed early Friday when a fire ripped through their Brooklyn brownstone, authorities said.

The blaze on Patchen Ave. near MacDonough St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant came just hours after a dozen people, including four children, were killed in the Bronx in the deadliest fire to hit the city in a quarter century.

Firefighters were called to the Brooklyn blaze about 3:15 a.m. and found Ernestine Moore, 79, dead on the second floor of the three-story building, officials said.

First responders pulled second-floor resident Arthur Madison, 76, from the building and rushed him to Interfaith Hospital, but doctors were unable to save him.

Twelve people dead in massive Bronx fire

A 55-year-old old man was taken to Woodhull Hospital and is expected to survive, sources said.

Al Beete, 70, who lives in the building next door, was awoken by a survivor of the fire banging on the door of the building on fire.

“He was shouting, 'Ernestine! Ernestine!' He probably smelled something and came outside — then the door locked behind him," Beete said. “He knocked on my door and we called 911. He only had on his night clothes.”

A firefighter was also injured in the blaze, which raged for hours before being snuffed out, officials said. Over 100 firefighters responded to the call.

The fire destroyed the second and third floors before being doused. The cause of the blaze was being investigated.

"She was very sweet every day,” neighbor Antonio Paulino, 43, said of Moore. “She'd say hi to me and my boys every day during the summer."

Paulino said Moore had difficulty getting around and would just sit at the window of her apartment, waving and chatting to neighbors through the day.

“When the weather was nice, she opened the window and conducted her business," Paulino said. "We'd just call her 'Mama.' A very sweet older lady ... I'm shocked."

Beete said both Moore and Madison had medical ailments and had lived in the building for about 20 to 25 years.

"They looked after each other. They became friends after so long living in the same building," he said.

Beete said the deaths are a huge loss for the neighborhood.

"They were friendly, they were neighborly, they were helpful,” he said. “Ernestine was the type of person who knew everyone in the neighborhood. They'll be missed."