No major injuries were reported following a massive fire that ripped through several buildings at 2910 Wallace Avenue in the Allerton section of the Bronx overnight, leaving hundreds displaced. The fire occurred a day after the third anniversary of the tragic Twin Parks blaze killed 17 people, including 8 children in the Fordham Heights section of The Bronx.

 

The FDNY said the department received a call at 1.40 a.m. and units were assigned to the location for reports of a fire in a multiple dwelling. A spokesperson said firefightere were able to determine that the fire was located on the top floor of a 6-story multiple dwelling at that location.

 

The spokesperson said the fire was elevated to a second alarm at 1.53 a.m. to a third alarm fire at 2.11 a.m., to a fourth alarm at 2.23 a.m., and to a fifth alarm fire at 2.49 a.m. Forty-four units comprising 198 personnel responded to the scene according to the FDNY and there were eight injuries (six firefighters and two civilians). Seven of the patients were transported to local hospitals, and one civilian was treated at the scene but refused transport. Operations remain ongoing.

 

The FDNY provided the following video footage of the scene. FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito later said of the blaze, “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 open area for the entire length and width of the building. This building is about 200 feet wide, about 100 feet deep, and we had fire throughout that cockloft.”

He continued, “Heavy fire destroyed all the apartments on the top floor and burnt through the roof. Initially, we had fire companies inside conducting searches, removing people and attempting to fight the fire. The fire had too much headway. It was extremely dangerous for our firefighters. We removed them from the building, and we’re using tower ladders to extinguish the rest of the building, and we’re continuing with that operation. We had no water problems due to the cold, although it is problematic aside from making it very uncomfortable. The wind did play a part in spreading the fire through the cockloft.”

 

Officials said the cause of the fire is under investigation and both NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM) and the Red Cross have set-up at nearby P.S. 76 to assist those displaced. Any persons impacted who need recovery assistance and have not already connected with Red Cross services should contact 1-877-RED CROSS (1-877-733-2767).

 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36), Assembly Member John Zaccaro Jr. (A.D. 80) City Council Member Kevin Riley (C.D. 12) joined senior government officials from the FDNY and other departments, including Fire Commissioner Robert S. Tucker and ECM Commissioner Zach Iscol for a press conference on Friday to discuss the response to the fire.

 

The mayor said in part, “As you can see, [the fire] is still smoldering. Some of the areas, we’re still dealing with the fire, but you know, thank God, no life-threatening injuries.” He added, “But this was a massive fire, and the wind played a major role in the conditions that we are facing.”

The fire commissioner said, “It’s been a very long and cold morning here in The Bronx. FDNY has been on the scene, as the mayor said, since about 1.45 this morning. We have a five-alarm fire, about 250 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics on the scene. Thank God, no serious injuries to report, and that’s a miracle. This was a very, very large fire, wind-driven, as the mayor said, a very difficult fire for our firefighters to fight under conditions that caused us to have to have lots of relief.”

 

Iscol later said in part, “The mayor is always talking to us about making sure that we, as a city, operate as one team. That’s exactly what we saw this morning with this response from the remarkable work of our firefighters, the MTA immediately deploying warming buses to keep residents warm, our schools, our partners over at New York City Schools opened up P.S. 76, the [inaudible] school just down the street as a reception center to keep people warm.”

 

He added, “We have the Red Cross there that is currently registering families and residents. We’ve over 66 families registered, about 180 people, so really an incredible effort by all the agencies here this morning. If you need help or if you need services, we encourage you to reach out to the Red Cross again.”

 

Doreen Howe, CEO of the Red Cross of Greater New York, later said the affected residents and families had been served breakfast and were being registered. “We expect that number to go up, and we’ll provide emergency assistance, including lodging, connection to the resources that the families need as they plan their next steps in recovering from this disaster. I want to thank our volunteers and staff for being here through the night, working with the families to keep them safe.”

 

We asked the Red Cross if there was anything Bronxites could do to help. Desiree Ramos responded, saying, “We have seen an outpouring of support already from the community, which is wonderful and everyone is grateful. In our next update we will provide the list of groups that have been helping.”

 

Ramos added, “At this time we have not heard of any formal collections for the families, but we will share whatever we learn. The reception center will likely close later today after registration is complete. We will send more details once everything is confirmed.”

 

In response to some questions from the media about the cause of the fire and whether or not a possible lack of heat provision by landlords may have played a part in the blaze, fire officials reiterated that the cause was under investigation. “As for the heat, we haven’t heard that, and we’ll find out about that and get back to you,” they said.

In response to another question about civilians possibly resorting to using their ovens to heat their apartment/homes, officials added, “From the FDNY perspective, we would ask people not to do that. It’s cold weather. Obviously, that’s [oven use] a very dangerous situation, can cause fires to happen and we hope that we are sending the message that fire safety in the cold weather is super important, and to report any situations like that to 311 immediately.”

 

They added, “We have not heard that [oven use] preliminarily but we are going to have [NYC Department of Buildings] DOB and other city agencies look into if there’s a chronic condition [cold]. We’re going to look at if there are 311 calls that were made, what follow-up was conducted, and we’re going to find out what the cause of this fire is.”

City officials added, “First, we need to find out [if] that’s the condition here specifically but in general, it’s unacceptable. We have a heat hotline, and we really want to encourage New Yorkers if landlords are not fulfilling their responsibility and obligations to give proper heat, they should call in and report that, and we do conduct those investigations.” FDNY also warned residents to be careful when using space heaters, providing the following link to fire safety tips.

 

According to City records, the affected building was built in 1930 and appears to be owned by Parkash 2910 LLC, with an address in Jamaica, NY. Recent violations recorded for the building by DOB, including some relating to the building’s boiler, are attached, according to NYC Department of Building records. We are attempting to reach Parkash 2910 LLC for comment and will share any feedback we receive.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that there were no injuries as a result of the fire. This has since been corrected to reflect that there were no major injuries reported.