1 Man Dead, 13 People Injured as Fire Overtakes Apartment Buildings on the Upper East Side
1 Man Dead, 13 People Injured as Fire Overtakes Apartment Buildings on the Upper East Side:- One man was killed and 13 people were injured, one man critically, in a fire that overtook three Upper East Side apartment buildings and sent flames shooting 20 feet into the air on Thursday morning, officials said.
Firefighters were still trying to get the blaze under control at 6:35 a.m. — more than three hours after it broke out. Residents said they were awoken by people shouting “fire” in the street and others who were pounding on doors.
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The blaze broke out around 3:30 a.m. and quickly overtook the upper part of the 93rd Street building. It eventually spread to the two adjoining buildings. The fire was so intense around 4:15 a.m. that flames were shooting 20 feet into the air and embers and smoke were falling across surrounding streets.
Lance Hayes, who lives in one of the buildings that caught fire, said someone knocked on his door to warn him.
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“When I opened the door, I smelled the flames, so we just got out. When we checked, it was just flaming at the top,” Hayes said.
Larry Garvin is a 12-year resident of the building that first caught fire. He said he was concerned about a man on the fifth floor who is in his mid-to-late 80s.
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“I thought of him when I came out, but there was no way that I could get up there,” Garvin said.
A man who lived in one of the buildings was killed and a second person was critically injured. Twelve other people — eight firefighters and four civilians — suffered minor injuries, officials said.
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Fire officials described a harrowing scene as one firefighter worked to rescue the critically injured man. They said the firefighter was able to lower the man down using a rope but that flames coming out the window caught the rope on fire and it burned through just as the two of them reached the ground.
“A few more minutes and it would have been a totally different scenario,” an official said.
Officials said the first building was damaged beyond repair but that the two adjoining buildings could be saved. There are about 10 to 20 apartments in each of the three buildings.
Matt Bonaccorso live-streamed the fire on Periscope from across the street. The video shows flames pouring out of the top of the building as chunks of debris fall to the ground below. Firefighters can be heard shouting to one another as the scene unfolds.
“You can feel the heat from here,” Bonaccorso says on the live-stream.
LIVE on #Periscope: ues fire nyc https://t.co/pVgIWWjoQA
— Matt Bonaccorso (@mbonaccors) October 27, 2016
A woman who lives over on 92nd Street said that she left her apartment after she heard a loud pounding.
“I saw flames going out the window and everything, and I was like ‘Thank God I left.’ You could see the embers landing on the roof of my building and smoke and everything. Really scary,” she said.
The Red Cross arrived on the scene around 5 a.m. as groups of people stood by covered in blankets. It’s believed that one of the buildings houses both apartments and a bed and breakfast.
Parts of First and Second avenues were closed to traffic and it was difficult for motorists to get around in the area as dawn broke. Officials said drivers should expect extensive delays on the FDR Drive in both directions.
Source:- http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Fire-Yorkville-Building-Residents-Displaced-Periscope-Video-398829921.html
