Bronx 5-Alarm Apartment Fire Leaves Hundreds Displaced and Several Injured
"This was a massive fire and the wind played a major role," Mayor Eric Adams said
Multiple people were injured and hundreds displaced after a fire tore through an apartment building in the Bronx, N.Y., early Friday morning, Jan. 10.
In a statement shared by New York Fire Department chief John Esposito, the department reported “seven minor injuries, five to firefighters and two to civilians” from the fire on Wallace Avenue.
New York City Fire Department/X
Bronx, New York apartment fireThe number of reported injuries is now eight, according to ABC 7 NY.
“We arrived here a little after 1:45 this morning,” Esposito said, adding that firefighters found the blaze “in the ceiling above the top floor, between the ceiling and the underside of the roof.”
Related: Apartment Fire in NYC Injures 21 People, Displaces 90 Families: 'Everybody Was Panicking'
The area, called the “cockloft,” is “an open area for the entire length and width of the building," the fire chief noted.
“Heavy fire destroyed [all the] apartments on the top floor and burnt through the roof,” his statement continued.
New York City Fire Department/X
Bronx, New York apartment fireAccording to NYFD, fire companies began searching and removing residents from the fire while also putting out the flames, but “the fire had too much headway.”
“It was extremely dangerous for our firefighters. We removed them from the building, and we're using tower ladders to extinguish the rest of the building, and we're continuing with that operation,” Esposito said. “We had no water problems due to the cold. The wind did play a part in spreading the fire through the cockloft.”
The blaze was put out before 2 p.m. local time, according to ABC 7 NY.
Related: Bronx Fire Death Toll Revised to 17, Including 8 Children, as Door Malfunction Is Investigated
"Everyone just grabbed what they could and we left the building," Jenny, who lives in the Wallace Avenue apartment building, told the outlet. "I would have expected a lot more smoke inside the building for the way it looked outside of the building."
"Thank God no life-threatening injuries," N.Y.C. Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference. "But this was a massive fire and the wind played a major role."
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The N.Y.C. mayor’s office let residents know on X that NYC Emergency Management and the Red Cross of New York were on the scene “providing shelter and assistance to displaced residents at the Bennington School at 900 Adee Avenue.”
According to New York Daily News, more than 250 residents, including 57 children, have been displaced due to the fire. The outlet added that over 250 firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics responded to the fire, citing FDNY officials.
Anyone needing assistance can also call the Red Cross hotline at 877-733-2767.
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