On Wednesday, April 27, at 3.16 p.m., another more deadly fire broke out on Dekalb Avenue, also in Norwood.

 

When contacted for more information, an FDNY official told Norwood News, “Units were assigned to 3569 De Kalb Avenue for reports of a fire. Units were able to identify that the fire was located on the 4th floor of the 6-story, multiple dwelling at that location.”

“In my apartment, they punched a hole in the wall too, but I told them that there was no fire here.” Rogers later pointed to his apartment from outside the building. “I was there,” he said. “I didn’t let them start tearing up stuff, but there is enough damage.”

 

 

Richard Santa, 49, is another resident of the building. Asked what had happened before the firefighters arrived, he said, “We started noticing smoke. My upstairs neighbor, 4C, she came down and said, ‘I smell smoke.’ We started knocking on 3C. They opened and said, ‘We aren’t cooking.’”

 

Santa then said a little girl from 3B came over to him and also asked, “Do you smell smoke?” He said, “That’s when we started calling the fire department. They came quick. It was coming from the walls. If there is nothing on the stove, it’s from the walls somewhere,” he added.

 

Asked if he felt safe in the building and if there was a fire plan, Santana said, “Well, yeah, we have an escape plan. I feel safe. Everybody is safe in this building. The problem is sometimes people don’t take precautions with what they do.”

 

 

We reached out to the property manager of the location for comment on the resident’s allegation. We did not receive an immediate response.

Another resident asked if the fire alarm was working. We sent the inquiry to the FDNY and were informed that the cause was still under investigation.

The bravery and dedication of all firefighters across New York City is, of course, undisputed and unquestioned, and there is no doubt that Bronxites, like all New Yorkers continue to be indebted to them for their service and often, for their ultimate sacrifice. Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh reminded us on Feb. 17 that firefighter, Jesse Gerhard, was the 1,156th member of the FDNY to die in the line-of-duty. Following his death, his organs were donated, adding to the list of lives he had saved throughout his career.

 

Last week, May 4 marked International Firefighters Day. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson spoke for all Bronxites, in paying tribute to New York’s bravest, saying in part, “We are so grateful for all that you do. Thank you [for] choosing to serve our community every day.”

 

For recent fires, it is, of course, completely understandable that fire investigations by fire marshals take time and require resources which, like everywhere, are presumably scarce. Kavanagh oversees the day-to-day administration of the FDNY’s 17,000 employees and a $2 billion-dollar budget.

 

Also, it was mentioned recently that The Bronx used to have its own fire marshal to investigate Bronx fires only, but that this role was later allegedly merged at a certain point with a Queens fire marshal role. We asked FDNY if this was the case. We did not receive an immediate response but will update this story upon receipt of feedback.

Happy International Firefighters Day to our incredible FDNY!

We are so grateful for all that you do. Thank you choosing to serve our community every day. pic.twitter.com/2fo3x1j0od

— Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson (@bronxbp) May 4, 2022

 

As mentioned above, Norwood News has been following up with the fire department on the causes of several older fires which occurred across The Bronx over the last 9 months, sometimes longer, and often to little avail. Sometimes, as in the case with the Twin Parks fire and the space heater origin, the cause is known and reported quite soon after the fire occurs, and so, we always ask, just in case it is a straight-forward matter. However, as above, mostly it takes several months to get answers.

 

Initially, we were informed that some investigations were awaiting feedback from senior department officials. When we followed up over the course of recent months on some older inquiries dating back to last year, we were informed on March 12 that the cases which we were asking about were all still under investigation, including one of two fires which were suspected to have been caused by gas explosions, a point which is obviously of clear concern to residents.

 

A 77-year-old woman died following a morning explosion, fire and building collapse at her home in the Longwood section of the Bronx earlier this year. Separately, illegal gas lines were eyed as the potential cause of a Paulding Avenue explosion that injured nine last year. As reported, in December 2021, the City Council announced that it would be voting on City Council draft bill, Int. 2317-A, sponsored by former City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel of Brooklyn, which prohibits the combustion of substances with certain emissions profiles in new buildings within the City. The bill would also direct the Commissioner of Buildings to deny construction documents and permits in connection with any new building that would require the combustion of these substances, with some exceptions.

 

Earlier this year, Norwood News reported on gas pipe replacement work which was underway in and around Reservoir Place in Norwood. No direct correlation was made between fire safety and the gas pipe replacement work in the area at that time when we contacted Con Ed about the reason for the work. We are aware that similar work was also being carried out in Harlem earlier this year also.

 

Jamie McShane, a spokesperson for ConEd, said in March, when contacted by Norwood News about the local gas works, “This work is a part of our gas main replacement work in Norwood. Through our MRP [Construction LLC], we replace leak-prone pipe with more resilient materials, further improving system safety. The estimated time of completion for this project is May 15, 2022.”

 

In April 2022, when we followed up again on some older fire investigations, we were told, “The results of all FDNY investigations are posted to our official Twitter page. If you don’t see anything posted there, then the investigation remains ongoing.”

 

Because it’s not possible to search for an update on a particular fire using the address on the FDNY’s Twitter page, we recently, manually, scrolled through every single FDNY post since the beginning of the year (which is as far back as the posts display) and did not find any updates relating to our specific inquiries. (We later discovered that one update on our list had been posted instead to Instagram, not Twitter, and for which the search process is the same – manual.)

 

 

As reported, the cause of the fire at 2230 Grand Concourse on Sunday, Jan. 9, the same day as the Twin Parks fire, was a lithium-ion battery from an e-scooter. Our updated story includes a video by FDNY on how to mitigate against such fires. “When these [lithium-ion powered] scooters are involved in fire, the batteries can overheat and cause spontaneous combustion,” an FDNY official said in a social media post in relation to another fire in Brooklyn, also caused by lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters/bikes.

 

In December 2021, the City Council announced that it would be voting on legislation that would complete the then most recent revision to the New York City Fire Code (prior to the Twin Parks fire). The council said the legislative amendments were based on the 2015 edition of the International Fire Code as well as additional provisions.

 

They amendments voted on included a revision to energy storage system requirements, with the goal of establishing a regulatory framework that opened the door to lithium–ion and other new battery technologies to power buildings and building systems, “all while assuring appropriate building fire safety.”

 

The bill was set to also establish a regulatory framework for what was described as New York City’s emerging distilled spirits industry, authorizing the use of hydrogen fuel cells to further the City’s clean energy efforts, and including hundreds of other substantive and technical amendments to improve fire safety in the city. The bill was passed on Jan. 15, 2022. In the context of this legislation, we asked the FDNY and the City’s administration how the safety of lithium-ion batteries in such cases can be assured, and will update this story upon receipt of feedback.

 

As reported in that story, one commentator suggested that there seems to be an uptick in such fires across New York City compared to other large cities lately. We asked the City to comment on whether they believe this may have coincided with the roll out in recent years of the various City e-bike programs. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

As also reported, the cause of the fire at at 50 E 212th Street in Norwood was caused by food that had been left on the stove. That story has been updated to provide details of recent legislation requiring certain impacted landlords to provide stove knob covers to their tenants.

 

One of the reasons, perhaps, why Bronxites appear to be on edge when it comes to fires is potentially because Bronxites live in the most overcrowded borough, and this may be preying upon people’s minds when it comes to a potential stairway escape from a burning high-rise building such as in the case of the Twin Parks North West tower. This overcrowding factor became the the focus of attention amid the pandemic when social distancing in such high-rise buildings, housing multi-generational households became very difficult.

 

Help your loved ones be #FDNYSmart with this Senior Citizen Safety sheet. See more tips at https://t.co/NpwdRdlElY pic.twitter.com/XSvqMKnDPx

— FDNY (@FDNY) January 23, 2022

 

According to the attached extract from the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness, covering the period from 2009 to 2013, The Bronx had the highest rate of overcrowding at 13.2 percent, compared to the New York City average of 10.8 percent. Following the borough was Queens with 12.5 percent. Bronx Community Board 7 was listed as the 8th most overcrowded community board in the City based on data between 2009 and 2013, and exceeded in The Bronx only by Boards 4 and 5.

 

The FDNY does issue annual reports with lots of generic data on fires and the category of causes but from what we can see, the reports do not appear to list the causes of any particular fires at specific addresses, and instead combines the data together (without the addresses) to show general causal trends. We’re following up with a separate story in which we will present the latest available data as it’s quite lengthy.

 

In the meantime, Norwood News will continue to follow up with the FDNY and share any updates on causes as and when we receive them.

 

A separate fatal fire was reported in Fordham Heights on Tuesday, May 10. We will be sharing that story also shortly.

 

The FDNY Foundation is the official non-profit organization of the New York City Fire Department, allowing the FDNY to use donations from concerned businesses, foundations and individuals to promote awareness and outreach to the public, training and support of members of the FDNY and enhanced technology and equipment to better protect all who live, work and visit New York City every year. The FDNY Foundation helps to fund the resources and training needed to ensure the FDNY is stronger and better prepared as the “Greatest Fire Department in the World” moves into the future.

 

Anyone wishing to support the foundation, can do so here: Support the FDNY.

 

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story referred to the fatal fire being in Bedford Park. This has since been corrected. We apologize for this error.