Allerton: Department of Buildings Works with ACC NYC to Rescue Daisy the Cat after Wallace Ave Fire

By SÍLE MOLONEY

NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) officials, including DOB Principal Engineer Ben Sippel and a colleague, worked with Animal Care Centers of New York City to rescue Daisy, a cat (pictured) which had been found stranded at 2910 Wallace Avenue in the Allerton section of the Bronx on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, after a fire destroyed many sections of the building on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. Daisy has since been reunited with her owners.
Photo courtesy of NYC Department of Buildings (DOB)

Following the horrific fire at 2910 Wallace Avenue in the Allerton section of The Bronx on Friday, Jan. 10, NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) workers have been carrying out some ad hoc pet rescue at the now vacated building.

According to DOB, department personnel have been at the scene of the 5-alarm fire which, as reported, has displaced hundreds of Bronxites amid frigid winter temperatures.

On Wednesday morning, Jan 15, five days after the fire broke out, DOB Principal Engineer Ben Sippel worked with Animal Care Centers of NYC to help rescue Daisy, a cat stranded in one of the apartments that had been vacated as a result of the fire. “We’ve since helped reunite Daisy with her family and can confirm that, while a little bit cranky, she is warm and has a full belly,” a DOB spokesperson said.

“In emergency situations where Vacate Orders are placed on a building, instances like this do occur and we work tirelessly to ensure that stranded pets are reunited with their families!” According to DOB, Sippel also saved and reunited a pet turtle from the building with its owner.

DOB officials said each day since the fire occurred, DOB staff have been conducting extensive structural stability inspections of the building, coordinating with other City agencies and representatives of the building owners as they begin clean-up operations and work to make the building safe, in order to allow tenants to start retrieving necessary items still inside of the building.

They said DOB will continue to maintain a presence at the building monitoring the progress of the cleanup operations, and pushing the owner to start the needed repairs to get the displaced tenants back into their homes. Read our previous coverage of the fire here and here.

Norwood News was previously advised by the FDNY Foundation that if residents are not at home when a fire breaks out and if they have pets, the owners could place a notice somewhere inside the apartment near the apartment door in large lettering that indicates if there are pets in the apartment, how many, and in which room they are typically located. They said every second counts and if they can, the firefighters may do their best to rescue them, though they cannot guarantee it of course.

Contact Animal Care Centers of NYC here.

According to Maryland SPCA officials, any pets who have endured a fire should be taken to the veterinarian as soon as possible. “Some effects of house fires can take several hours to become lethal, so veterinary care immediately may prevent them from occurring. Your veterinarian will assess your pet’s heart, lungs, eyes, and skin,” they said.

For our recent coverage of some residential fires in Kingsbridge on Jan. 15 and at the Parkside Housing Project on Jan. 16, click here and here.

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.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.