An elderly couple is dead and dozens of tenants have been displaced after an overnight fire at an apartment building in Washington Heights.

Family members identified the deceased as 74-year-old Luciano Tavares and his 77-year-old wife, Soledad. The couple, together for more than 30 years, were unable to escape alive.

What You Need To Know

  • An elderly couple is dead and dozens of tenants have been displaced after an overnight fire at an apartment building in Washington Heights, officials said

  • Family members identified the deceased as 74-year-old Luciano Tavares and his 77-year-old wife, Soledad. The couple, together for more than 30 years, were unable to escape alive

  • City officials said that 128 individuals were impacted, including families with small children and elderly relatives

“He was with her,” Luz Conce, the first cousin of the deceased, told NY1 in Spanish. “He took her outside because she had trouble walking, but he was by her side all the time.”

Loved ones told NY1 the couple was originally from the Dominican Republic and had been living in the building for several decades.

Firefighters said the blaze appears to have started on the sixth floor of the six-story building on West 178th Street near the entrance to the George Washington Bridge. It took the first responders about two hours to get the fire under control.

According to fire officials, more than 140 members of the FDNY responded to the fire before 2 a.m. Tuesday.

“Saw the smoke, then we got some people out, then we left,” Madison Ryan, a resident, said. “I just knocked on some doors.”

Frederico Fernandez said his sister lives on the first floor of the burned building. He lives in the building next door.

“I learned that the fire was on the sixth floor,” he said. “My sister lives on the first floor. So I was kind of relieved about that, that she was OK.”

City officials said all residents have been evacuated from the building while the city Department of Buildings assesses the structural integrity of the building.

The Red Cross offered people food and shelter at a reception center at Holyrood Episcopal Church around the corner on West 179th Street.

“What we do know is that 128 individuals are impacted, including families with small children and elderly,” City Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa said.

Three other people suffered minor injuries, according to officials. The building has more than 40 apartments.

It’s unclear how long the vacate order will be in place, officials said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.