Two recent residential fires in the north Bronx have left more residents displaced, Red Cross officials said. According to the FDNY, there were no injuries reported following a residential fire at 3065 Grand Concourse in Bedford Park on Wednesday night, Jan. 29. FDNY officials said they received a call at 9.53 p.m. for a reported fire at the 6-story, multiple dwelling located between East 203rd Street and East 204th Street.

 

They said 12 units comprising 60 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene, the fire was brought under control at 10.29 p.m., and the cause remains under investigation. We spoke to siblings, Jayden Pimental, 14, and his 21-year-old older brother who live on the sixth floor and asked them what happened.

 

“I was in my room,” Jayden said. “My mom just came knocking on my door saying we need to go, leave and so, yeah, that’s all I know.” His older brother added, “Same thing; my mom called me. I was on the train. She said the building was on fire, so I came here as fast as possible.” He added that he thought the fire was on the sixth floor as there was a lot of smoke in that area. Asked if everyone had been evacuated, he said, “Yeah, pretty much.”

After the fire was extinguished and the FDNY allowed residents back in, the brothers were seen helping their grandmother walk back upstairs to their apartment. She appeared to be having some breathing difficulties. We also spoke to fourth-floor residents, Rose Singleton and Chris. “Luckily, our neighbors across the hall, God bless them, banged on our door because everybody in the apartment was asleep, so we just jumped up, grabbed the coats, put on any kind of shoes, and ran out,” said Singleton.

 

“As we were coming down, you saw the firefighters trying to break into the apartment on the third floor,” she said, adding that it was very, very smoky. “As we were walking down, everybody was choking. People were trying to make sure the kids didn’t run off, trying to grab pets,” she said. Asked if an alarm went off, Singleton said it did and that it was the second fire to take place in the building.

 

Chris added, “The elevators are not working. [They’ve] been breaking down a lot lately.” Singleton said as far as she knew nobody was hurt. “We do have a neighbor at the end of the hallway that has a disability. I haven’t seen him, so I don’t know if he was home or he’s in the hospital, but I hope everybody got out. It looks like it.”

 

The owner of the property, according to City records is Joshua Frankel. We asked residents if there were any heating problems in the building. Some said there were while others said there weren’t. According to NYC Department of Building (DOB) records, an elevator violation is open for the property with civil penalties due. The respondent for the property is sometimes listed as Aqua 3065 GC LLC, 1651 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, but the name and mailing address listed with the Department of State is Residential Management (NY) Inc. at the same Brooklyn address.

According to an Aug. 28, 2024, DOB inspection of the boiler, there were no defects. Meanwhile, according to a November 2024 DOB inspection of the elevator, a compliance report was accepted but with defects. Meanwhile, as of the date of the fire, there were 105 open violations and three open complaints for the building logged with NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD), though no complaints were heat-related. Some of the violations were for roaches and repairs. We’ve attempted to reach the management company for comment.

 

The Red Cross said one family, comprising two adults and a child were able to self-relocate with relatives and the Red Cross provided financial aid, blankets, food, clothes, and comfort supplies to the family. Anyone in need of assistance should call 1-877-RED CROSS (877-733-2767) and select Option 1 for help.

 

A separate residential fire broke out at 2587 Bainbridge Avenue in Fordham Manor on Friday, Jan. 31, and also resulted in no injuries (except to a pet) according to FDNY officials. They said the department received a call at 11.56 a.m. for a report of a fire/smoke in the 3-story, multiple dwelling located on a corner opposite East 193rd Street. They said the fire was in the basement, 12 units comprising 60 fire personnel responded to the scene, and the blaze was brought under control at 12.53 p.m.

 

One resident at the scene was observed extremely distraught. Some other residents said the person’s pet had either died or had been injured. Speaking in Spanish, another female neighbor who shared a video of the fire with us, said the blaze had worried her as it was so close to her own building.

 

She said a female resident of the affected building and her child entered the neighbor’s building to escape the smoke, and added that she believed one dog had died in the fire. Also speaking in Spanish, another woman who was parked in the area and was blocked from exiting due to the number of fire units on the street said she was trying to get to a specific White Plains Road school for the deaf to pick up her child.

The Red Cross said they registered one family (two adults and four kids) for emergency assistance including financial assistance and temporary lodging following the fire. According to DOB, a partial vacate order now exists for the affected property. According to HPD, it has 44 open violations, at least one relating to hot water. A video shared with Norwood News of the scene can be watched here.

 

Meanwhile, there were no open HPD-related complaints. The building appears to be owned by BBJJ Holdings LLC, with an address at 4403 15th Ave., Ste 530, Brooklyn, NY 11219-1604. We’ve attempted to reach the property owner for comment.

 

Other large, residential fires have broken out in the north Bronx in recent weeks, one Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 3030 Heath Avenue in Kingsbridge, as reported, with two minor injuries, with dozens displaced, and another at 2910 Wallace Avenue in Allerton Friday, Jan. 10, which resulted in eight injuries (six firefighters and two civilians) and hundreds more displaced residents. Pet rescue followed the fire are reported.

 

Another fire broke out at Parkside Housing Project on the 7th floor at 669 Arnow Avenue on Thursday, Jan. 16, and in Norwood on another residential fire was reported resulting in no injuries and no requests for assistance, according to the Red Cross.

 

Click here to read FDNY’s fire safety tips. “During a fire, always close the door behind you!” fire officials say. “It helps contain smoke and flames, giving you precious time to escape. Your quick action can make the difference.”

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.