A five-alarm fire broke out in the Bronx early Friday morning, injuring seven people and displacing dozens of residents, authorities said.
The blaze began at an apartment complex on Wallace Avenue in Allerton just before 2 a.m., quickly advancing due to heavy winds, the FDNY said.
What You Need To Know
- A five-alarm fire broke out in the Bronx early Friday morning, injuring seven people and displacing dozens of residents, authorities said
- Five firefighters and two civilians who sustained minor injuries were expected to recover, Mayor Eric Adams said
- FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said the fire was "challenging" to control, with heavy winds helping to spread the flames
Five firefighters and two civilians who sustained minor injuries were expected to recover, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news briefing.
“This was a massive fire, and the wind played a major role in the conditions that we are facing,” he said.
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker described the fire as “challenging” to bring under control, with around 250 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics responding to the scene.
“It’s been a very long and cold morning here in the Bronx,” Tucker said. “Thank God, no serious injuries to report. That’s a miracle. This was a very, very large fire, wind-driven, as the mayor said, very difficult fire for our firefighters to fight under conditions that caused us to have to have lots of relief.”
FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said the fire spread rapidly through a space between the ceiling and roof of the building known as the cockloft.
Early Friday, the FDNY responded to reports of a fire at 2910 Wallace Avenue in the Bronx.
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 10, 2025
“We arrived here a little after 1:45 this morning. We found fire in the ceiling above the top floor, between the ceiling and the underside of the roof that's called the cockloft. It's an… pic.twitter.com/VEiSxdo7FN
The blaze destroyed all of the apartments on the building’s top floor, burning through the roof in the process, Esposito said.
The FDNY initially sent fire companies inside to search and fight the fire, but was forced to pull them out due to the dangerous conditions. As of around 8:30 a.m., firefighters were using tower ladders to tackle the remaining flames, he said.
Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said the MTA sent warming buses to the site to keep residents warm. A reception center has been set up for displaced residents at P.S. 076 on Adee Avenue, Iscol said.
By Friday evening, the American Red Cross had registered 95 households — or 262 people — for emergency assistance, including more than 70 households seeking emergency lodging.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.