by DORIAN BLOCK and BRENDAN BROSH
Firefighters rescued two women through the window of their burning building in the East Village Saturday afternoon, fire officials said.
An elderly woman was in critical condition in the burn unit of New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, where her home health aide was also being treated for injuries, a Fire Department spokesman said.
The blaze started in a third-floor apartment at the Jacob Riis Houses at 1023 FDR Drive just before 4 p.m. and quickly engulfed the entire unit.
"The fire was right behind the apartment door," a fire spokesman said. "It pushed the people all the way to the window."
Firefighters from Engine 28 and Ladder 11, who were first to arrive at the six-story brick building, were met with flames when they reached the apartment door from the inside.
Veteran Firefighter Charlie Malone of Ladder 18 reached the window in the bucket of his truck's tower ladder and lifted both injured women to safety. Malone also suffered minor injuries and was being treated at St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan last night.
Residents - some of whom were forced out of their apartments - described watching smoke billow out of the building before the harrowing rescue. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
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