Two people were injured following a fire in the Norwood section of the Bronx, FDNY officials said. A fire department spokesperson said 12 emergency units, comprising 60 fire and EMS personnel responded to the blaze after they received a call at 8.17 a.m. on March 28.

 

They said the residential fire was on the first floor of 3576 Dekalb Avenue, located between East 212th Street and East 213th Street, a multiple, 6-story, Class 3 dwelling (125 ft. x 60 ft.). They said the fire was brought under control at 8.57 a.m. and two civilians were treated for injuries and transported by EMS to local area hospitals.

Speaking in Spanish, another resident said he didn’t know very well what had happened. He just saw the firefighters arrive and tackle the blaze. Another female resident who lives on another side of the building explained that it was her homecare assistant who was arriving at the woman’s building by car who saw the flames and warned her.

 

“My homecare called me to tell me to come downstairs,” she said, adding that she suffers from asthma. “I don’t need to get sick,” she said, and added that not everyone in the building evacuated, but she and one or two others on her side of the building did.

Referring to the residents of the impacted apartment, another male resident, Joseph Pagan, said, “I know those people for many years. They’re a good family. I just want to make sure they’re ok. I don’t know what the hell happened. I was a little bit depressed when I heard.” He asked if we knew if a female resident who had been injured was going to be ok. We said we would share whatever information we received from the FDNY. Bound by HIPAA laws, hospitals don’t disclose any personal medical statuses of patients in their care.

 

Later, we spoke to another young man who said he was a handyman for the building. We asked if he could explain what he knew about the cause of the fire. Speaking in Spanish, he told us a tenant who he estimates is in his forties was inside a first-floor apartment where it seems the fire started. “It appears he has some mental problems,” he said.

He said it appeared that the man set his body on fire in his room with a lighter. When we asked FDNY officials if they could confirm this, they said the cause of the fire was under investigation. The handyman later added that the firefighters arrived promptly at the scene and that three people, the man in his forties and two other younger people, were assisted. He said he believed only one person was injured.

 

Meanwhile, FDNY officials said there were no injuries reported after a fire broke out in a residential building at 3154 Grand Concourse in Bedford Park on Saturday morning, April 12. They said the cause is also under investigation.

A popular animal hospital on Kingsbridge Road in Fordham Manor, which has served the community for 90 years, was seriously damaged when an after-hours fire broke on March 27. Again, FDNY reported no injuries to human or animal, though a resident told us a bird located on a higher floor had died in the fire.

 

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.” FDNY officials are also reminding drivers not to block fire hydrants to prevent delays connecting fire hoses to hydrants.