NEW YORK
CITY – A fire broke out early Sunday morning in the Bronx, killing
three adults and a child.
Around 6 a.m., firefighters were called to a two-story
building on Quimby Avenue near Castle Hill Avenue.
Two of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and two
others died at the hospital, according to officials.
Two more people were taken to the hospital with serious
injuries, and three firefighters were treated for minor injuries.
The fire's origin is being investigated.
Brief detail;
According to FDNY sources, the deadliest New York City fire in decades killed at least 19 Bronx building residents on Sunday, including nine children.
The five-alarm fire started around 10:54 a.m. in a bedroom of a duplex apartment on the second and third floors of the 19-story Fordham Heights tower.
According to FDNY officials, the fire was started by a malfunctioning electric space heater. Though officials said the building's heat was working properly, temperatures in the Bronx dropped into the high 20s early Sunday morning.
"This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the City of New York," Mayor Adams said at the scene. "The figures are horrifying."
"This is going to be one of the worst fires we have seen in the City of New York in modern times," the mayor added. He noted that even after their oxygen tanks ran out of air, heroic firefighters continued to search for victims through the deadly smoke.
Firefighters arrived in three minutes, quickly swelling to 200 to battle the blaze at 333 E. 181st St. near Tiebout Ave., according to FDNY officials. At 1:26 p.m., it was brought under control.
"They were met with this fire in the hallway," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at the scene. "There's a lot of smoke and a lot of fire."
"This smoke extended the entire height of the building, which was completely unusual," Nigro added. "Members discovered victims on every floor and in the stairwells, and were transporting them out in cardiac and respiratory arrest."
Nigro explained that it didn't have to be that bad.
"As we've repeatedly stated, the door to that apartment was left open, allowing the fire and smoke to spread," he said.
The building has no fire escapes, and the stairwells intended to be used as emergency exits, as well as floors where stairwell doors were left open, quickly filled with smoke.
"There were definitely people trapped in their apartments all throughout this building," Nigro added. "That's why our members did an incredible job of getting through every floor of this building and getting to these folks." "However, some of them were already detained when we arrived."
Anthony Romero, 40, a resident of the 12th floor, awoke his seven-month pregnant wife and two children after the fire broke out on Sunday.
"I went to my front door and opened it. "When a huge cloud of black smoke came in, I shut the door," Romero explained. "We placed a wet towel beneath the door. I went to the back window to check, and that's when I noticed smoke coming out of the third-floor apartment."
Asthmatic Romero remained in his apartment until firefighters banged on the door, signaling that it was safe for the family to leave.
"I had no choice; there was too much smoke in the corridors, and there was no way I was going to leave my apartment and make it from the 12th to the first floor alive." So it's just the smoke hitting me... I'm spitting black, but I'm fine."
Romero described his neighbor's anguish at having to abandon her dog to die. As his family made their way to the ground floor through the thick smoke, he noticed firefighters on each floor.
"There was black everywhere," he said of the thick smoke. "It's all black."
Tysena Jacobs, a 15th-floor resident, and her two siblings were trapped in their apartment.
"We couldn't get out," said Jacobs, 69. "I called 911 three times, and they told us to put towels at the door, but I couldn't get to it." It was far too dark. Nothing could be seen because it was pitch black. As a result, I had to place a large number of towels at my bedroom door."
Before firefighters searching for trapped residents discovered the siblings, Jacobs' brother pushed an air conditioner out of a bedroom window in an attempt to get oxygen flowing through the apartment.
"I was praying to God to help us and get us out of here safely," Jacobs explained. "I've been here for over 30 years. There are fires there, but nothing like this. This is the first time something like this has occurred."
A couple was mourning the deaths of two of their five children at BronxCare Health System, the former Bronx-Lebanon Hospital.
Mahamadou Toure, a distraught father, struggled to form sentences outside the hospital emergency room where his 5-year-old daughter and the girl's teenage brother died.
"Right now, my heart is very...," Toure paused. "It's OK. I dedicate it to God."
As an unconscious adolescent neighbor was being wheeled from the emergency room to another hospital, Toure's wife approached the gurney, screamed the girl's name, and shook her in an attempt to wake her up.
Ousman Tunkara, 28, stared up at the building's 19th floor, where his 3-year-old niece lived, hours after the fire was put out. A family member informed him that the toddler did not survive the fire.
"She was a baby," said Tunkara. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry."
Tunkara was still attempting to contact his sister and brother-in-law on Sunday evening.
According to FDNY sources, more than 40 people were rescued from the burning building.
The structure contains multiple units that have been converted into duplexes, as well as spaces that are difficult for firefighters to access. According to city records, it was built in 1972.
A group of investors, including Camber Property Group, paid $24,675,000 for the building in 2020. Rick Gropper, one of the group's principals, was one of nearly 800 people named to Mayor Adams' transition team last month.
"It was at a building that was built under federal guidelines way back when," said Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association union.
He claimed that the building's design, particularly the "scissor stairs," in which two stairways cross in the same stairwell, made it more difficult to stretch hose through the building.
According to public records, the building has a number of open violations for mouse and roach infestations, peeling lead paint, and water leaks. One open complaint with the city's Housing Preservation and Development Department mentions a first-floor ceiling with defective fire retardant material.
Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, the building's owner, told ABC News that it is working with the FDNY and other city agencies in the aftermath of the fire.
"We are devastated by the unimaginable loss of life caused by this profound tragedy," the company said in a statement to the outlet.
"I am horrified by today's devastating fire in the Bronx," said Governor Hochul in a statement. "The entire State of New York is united in support of New York City."
Hochul said at a news conference at the scene on Sunday night that she will establish a victim compensation fund as she prepares the state budget, and that the American Red Cross will house displaced residents in hotels.
Families seeking assistance gathered in a public middle school next to the burned-out structure.
"It's impossible to walk into that room where so many families were in such grief and pain," Hochul said. "To see it in the eyes of a mother who had lost her entire family as I held her." It's difficult to comprehend what they're going through."
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