FDNY Firefighters Make Rescues During Deadly Five-Alarm Bronx Blaze
Thomas Tracy, Kerry Burke
New York Daily News
(TNS)
Two people were killed and 11 injured when a massive fire tore through a Bronx apartment building Tuesday, officials said.
The fatal blaze erupted inside the building on E. 187th St. near Belmont Ave. in Belmont around 1:30 p.m., firefighters said.
The building’s roof and portions of the stairwell collapsed as the fire spread to ignite each of the structure’s five floors, FDNY Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods said.
Video of firefighters fighting the inferno shows massive flames shooting out of the top windows onto the roof’s parapet.
Good Samaritans working at a nearby bodega ran outside after hearing the screams of residents attempting to escape the burning building.
“There was a guy trying to jump from the second-floor fire escape,” said Abdulrahman Albahri, 32, who works at 187 Discount Store and Variety. “We… got a ladder and caught him as he came down. He was burned all over.”
Another deli worker, Odai Albahri, 25, was coming in with a delivery when he noticed the carnage.
“I heard people screaming, ‘Fire! Fire!'” Odai said. “I brought two ladders from the store and brought two people down from the fire escape. One guy was on fire, his whole body. He was crying and screaming.”
Sharelle Rojas, 14, a ninth grader at Longwood Preparatory Academy, was coming home from school when she found her apartment engulfed in flames.
“I came home to this,” she said. “My family lost everything.”
“Everything has been destroyed, but we can’t worry because God has a plan for everyone,” she added.
The massive blaze quickly led to a fifth alarm, bringing more than 200 firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics to the scene.
11 people, including five firefighters, were injured and treated, according to Deputy Assistant Chief Stacy Scanlon.
An FDNY source said the fire’s fatal victims were found dead in different parts of the building.
The fire’s cause is under investigation.
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