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New York apartment fire: at least 12 people killed in Bronx New York apartment fire: at least 12 people killed in Bronx
(about 4 hours later)
At least 12 people, including a child, have died in a blaze at a Bronx apartment building on a frigid night, New York City’s mayor has said. Investigators in New York searched early on Friday for the cause of a blaze that ripped through an apartment building in the Bronx, killing 12 people including an infant, in the city’s deadliest fire in at least a quarter of a century.
Calling it an “unspeakable tragedy”, Bill de Blasio said one of the victims was an infant and four other people were critically injured. Visiting the scene, the mayor said: “This will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years.” Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, said the blaze “will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years” as he spoke to reporters at the scene.
He praised firefighters for saving 12 people from the blaze, which is now under control after breaking out just before 7pm at a five-storey building a block from the Bronx Zoo. “We’re here at the scene of an unspeakable tragedy. In the middle of the holiday season is a time when families are together. Tonight, here in the Bronx, there are families that have been torn apart,” de Blasio said.
The fire broke out on the first floor of a brick building and quickly spread upstairs. “People died on various floors of the apartment, ranging in age from 1 to over 50,” city fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said. “In a department that is surely no stranger to tragedy, we’re shocked by the lives lost.”
Tonight in the Bronx we've seen the worst first tragedy in at least a quarter of a century. It is unspeakable, and families have been torn apart. pic.twitter.com/OycmCDweaVTonight in the Bronx we've seen the worst first tragedy in at least a quarter of a century. It is unspeakable, and families have been torn apart. pic.twitter.com/OycmCDweaV
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro called the fire, “historic in its magnitude”, because of the number of lives lost. “Our hearts go out to every person who lost a loved one here and everyone who is fighting for their lives,” he said. Two of the dead were found in a bathtub, according to cable news station NY1. “People were screaming and that’s how we knew there was trouble,” eyewitness Kimberly Wilkins told WCBS-TV. “People were screaming, ‘Fire. Help. Fire. Help.’”
Nigro said the fire started on the first floor and quickly spread upstairs. People died on multiple floors, and ranged in age from one to over 50. The blaze erupted in the Belmont section of the Bronx, a primarily residential, close-knit neighbourhood known as the “Little Italy” of the borough, adjacent to the Bronx Zoo and Fordham University.
New York is going through a bitter cold snap with temperatures in the low-teens Fahrenheit and high winds, which according to one media account, stoked flames inside the building as residents flung open doors and windows.
The massive FDNY response @ Prospect Ave & E 187th St in the #Bronx, where one fatality & multiple critical injuries have been reported. pic.twitter.com/NLD7JFuO5tThe massive FDNY response @ Prospect Ave & E 187th St in the #Bronx, where one fatality & multiple critical injuries have been reported. pic.twitter.com/NLD7JFuO5t
More than 160 firefighters worked in bone-chilling cold, just 15 degrees, to rescue people from the building as the fire quickly spread. A nearby school has been set up to shelter evacuees on a bitterly cold night. Water sprayed from hoses froze into ice on the street. Wherever fire hoses sprayed, the ground was covered with sheets of ice, according to an NY1 reporter. More than 160 firefighters worked in bone-chilling cold, just 15 degrees, to rescue people from the building as the fire quickly spread.
Witnesses recounted their ordeal. Fifty-nine-year-old Thierno Diallo said he was asleep in his ground-floor apartment when he heard banging on the door. He said he heard people screaming, “There’s a fire in the building!”, prompting him to run out in his bathrobe, jacket and sandals.Witnesses recounted their ordeal. Fifty-nine-year-old Thierno Diallo said he was asleep in his ground-floor apartment when he heard banging on the door. He said he heard people screaming, “There’s a fire in the building!”, prompting him to run out in his bathrobe, jacket and sandals.
Ana Santiago, who lives in an adjoining building, told the New York Times she fled when she smelled the smoke and saw young girls who had escaped the fire standing on the fire escape in bare feet with no coats.Ana Santiago, who lives in an adjoining building, told the New York Times she fled when she smelled the smoke and saw young girls who had escaped the fire standing on the fire escape in bare feet with no coats.
Neighborhood resident Robert Gonzalez, who has a friend who lives in the building, said she got out on a fire escape as another resident fled with five children. “When I got here, she was crying,” Gonzalez said. Neighbourhood resident Robert Gonzalez, who has a friend who lives in the building, said she got out on a fire escape as another resident fled with five children. “When I got here, she was crying,” Gonzalez said.
Windows on some upper floors were smashed and blackened. “The smoke was crazy, people screaming, ‘Get out!,” a witness, Jamal Flicker, told the New York Post. “I heard a woman yelling, ‘We’re trapped, help!”Windows on some upper floors were smashed and blackened. “The smoke was crazy, people screaming, ‘Get out!,” a witness, Jamal Flicker, told the New York Post. “I heard a woman yelling, ‘We’re trapped, help!”
According to city records, the building had no elevator. Fire escapes were visible on the facade of the building.According to city records, the building had no elevator. Fire escapes were visible on the facade of the building.
One of New York’s deadliest fires in recent memory happened elsewhere in the Bronx in 2007. Nine children and one adult died in a blaze sparked by a space heater.One of New York’s deadliest fires in recent memory happened elsewhere in the Bronx in 2007. Nine children and one adult died in a blaze sparked by a space heater.
The number of civilian fire fatalities in New York City last year dropped to 48, the fewest in the 100 years since record-keeping began, the fire department said on its website.