The fire happened just before noon at 55 East 208th St., between DeKalb and Kossuth avenues, sending families fleeing out the building. Plumes of smoke wreaked out the sixth floor for at least 45 minutes, according to one resident. Odors of smoke could be picked up for a least a quarter mile.
Photo by David Cruz
“It looks like a possible plumber’s torch on the fifth floor–lit a fire which got into the large space underneath the roof and the top floor ceiling. Spread very rapidly,” said FDNY chief Joseph Saccente, adding the fire started at the “pipes between the kitchen and the bathroom.”
Photo by David Cruz
Three of units on the sixth floor were seriously damaged by the blaze. About 25 crews responded to the fire.
Several floors down Marina Zaprianova resident frantically searched for several of her rescue cats that jumped from her apartment. At least five of them were found.
The city Buildings Department issued a partial vacate order, mandating that residents at 15 apartments along the building’s A, B, and C lines be empty. Meantime, while Con Edison turned off the gas.
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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.
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I am very greatful to the FDNY for not letting the fire sread to my side of the building. At the same time i am feeling the devastation all the other tenants who lost everything. Words cant even express the how i feel about the people who sufferedin this disaster. You have to see it with your own eyes, and these past couple of days i seen a lot. Work has started to rebuild these apartments, but rebuilding the best way for people who lost everything is not easy. We had no heat, no hot water and still no gas but we are survivors. I wish knew which fire houses were here to help so i could make them a good plate of food when we get the gas turned back on. The landlord has also been a great help in providing heaters and hot plates for us to cook.