There were three minor injuries reported following a residential fire in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx on Monday night, FDNY said.

 

The fire department said they received a call at 8.45 p.m. on Monday, May 20, for a report of some trapped people in a fire on the 2nd floor of 4010 Valentine Avenue, located between East 201st and East 202nd Street, not far from the Grand Concourse.

 

They said 12 units, comprising 60 fire and EMS personnel arrived to the location and the fire was brought under control at 9.11 p.m., with three minor injuries to civilians reported.  The cause of the fire is under investigation by FDNY Fire Marshals.

 

Some people were seen seated on low gurneys taking deep breaths in and out with oxygen masks on, as a large crowd of residents, some carrying small children and others accompanied by pets watched in shock as firefighters carried out their work.

Prior to receiving the update on the injured from the FDNY, we had spoken to a number of local Bedford Park residents. One female resident of the affected building, who lives in Apartment 2A, Altagracia Severino, said she believes the fire started in Apartment 2B, next to her. She said she had just arrived home from work, had undressed, and had been on the phone with her 80-year-old mother in the Dominican Republic when she heard the fire alarm go off.

 

Speaking in Spanish, she said, “But I wasn’t cooking.. I wasn’t doing anything so I thought, why is the alarm going off?” She continued, “I then heard my neighbor say to another female neighbor that there was a fire and to get out quickly. I got dressed. I thought about my documents to take them out but then, I said, ‘No! I’m going out!'” The woman was laughing in retrospect at her circumstances but said it was scary at the time.

 

She added that she lived alone, had no pets, and that she left with just her keys, forgetting her phone but then went back to get it and left again. She said she closed her apartment door on the way out.

Severino said there was a lot of smoke in the corridor and that it was impossible to escape via the fire escape at the front of the building even though she said she had never actually gone outside to test it, and so she went to an alternative fire escape at the back of the building. Asked if everyone knew where to go and where the second fire escape was, she said, “I imagine, yes.”

 

Asked if people were scared, she said, “Yes, of course. There were people crying out, and one woman had many little animals, and another woman was crying. I don’t know why. Maybe there were some more people still upstairs who they later rescued so she was fine after that.”

 

We also spoke to another female resident of the neighborhood, Tiffany, who was comforting her dog, Lady. The woman did not live in the affected building but said she knew some people who lived in it. She said she hoped nobody had been injured.

 

We asked Tiffany if she knew, from talking to her affected neighbors, if they had known where they had to go to evacuate when the fire broke out, and she said, “Yes, which is good. I’m glad that everybody came out safe now, and everybody came to the aid, to help, you know? They weren’t just watching.”

 

We mentioned how fire drills do not appear to be a regular occurrence in most residential buildings in New York City. “No, they’re not,” she agreed. We asked if she had seen people helping older adults evacuate and she said she did. “Yes, to get out and to come down the fire escape, becuase from what I heard, they couldn’t come through the hallways; too much smoke.”

Tiffany continued, “My neighbor, thank God for her, she came and brought water for everybody to drink and you know the community came together for a change.” Asked if the various pets had been scared, she said, “Yeah, some of the dogs were definitely a little on edge, you know, because they can smell danger.”

 

Emergency services previously informed Norwood News that if pet owners put a notice in large lettering on a wall inside the door of their apartment listing how many pets there are in the apartment and in which room they’re located, it may help firefighters save time in case they can save them.

 

Tiffany said this was a good idea and added, “I remember when I was younger, we used to have on the window, just in case, that there’s a pet in the house so that if anything happened, they know to look for other things, other than just humans.”

 

We also spoke to two other neighbors, a woman and a man, who appeared to live in the building opposite where the fire broke out. The man was the husband of another female neighbor who had reportedly donated a crate of water bottles to the woman we spoke to to share with neighbors outside on the street. Neither wished to be identified. The woman was observed, saying to her neighbors, “Take some water, Take some water.”

 

Speaking later to Norwood News, she said, “This is a good neighborhood. We’re like family. This neighborhood has been on the decline. A lot of these buildings, you don’t have supers. If they do have a Super, it’s like one Super for three buildings. Also, I was paying attention to when the firemen was going up, we have the old fire escapes. The buildings are older, and I don’t think that we have the proper maintenance.”

 

The woman said, “When you have dedicated Supers, Supers know everyone, and they’re paying attention to what is okay and what is not okay. She gave the example of welcome mats in front of an apartment door, saying there was a time when they were not allowed because they are a fire hazard and people can trip on them when escaping in smoke-filled corridors.”

 

“But now you can come around and you see all these new tenants have [the mats] right?” she said. “But I know better because I had a diligent Super a long time ago. She retired during the pandemic, so as a result of that, we have a lot of buildings under [maintained]. So I’m not sure what the cause of the fire is. But what I’m saying is when we have Supers, dedicated Supers for every building, then it’s better maintained.”

 

The woman and the man said it was the second fire in the area in recent months, another one having happened “around the corner” and that it was the second fire to have taken place in the same building, adding that there was another one around two years ago. “Someone told me so it’s like a lot of fires in these neighborhoods.”

 

Norwood News had previously reported on a fire at 2000 Valentine Avenue in Mt. Hope and 2179 Valentine Avenue in Fordham Heights, both in December 2022.

 

We asked the residents if they had regular fire drills in their own building. “No, no,” they said. We mentioned that according to those we spoke to their neighbors in the affected building where the fire broke out seemingly knew where to go to evacuate. “They did?” the woman asked. “I didn’t…. I didn’t…. We don’t…. We’ve never had a major fire [in our building]. Asked if she would know where to go to evacuate if there was, the woman said, “No, I wouldn’t. I would just go downstairs.”

 

The man then said, “There’s a fire exit right there,” pointing to the exit inside his building. The woman then said, “Oh it’s over on this side, right?”

Another older woman, Virginia Conde, was seen seated outside on the street on a chair which had been brought outside for her to sit on and she had a tube affixed under her nose which was attached to two oxgen tanks. Asked how she was doing, Conde, whose voice was weak, said, “It was a good thing my daughter-in-law and my son [were] there.”

 

Conde’s daughter-in-law, Nicky, who was standing next to her, explained they happened to be visiting Conde when the fire broke out and said she had just been discharged from hospital and had had the oxygen tanks with her since her discharge.

 

Conde, who referred to Nicky as being like a daughter to her, continued, “They took me out and got me ready, you know, because.. they practically carried me.” Nicky said they took the elevator even though residents are not supposed to take the elevator when there is a fire, in case the fire affects the electronics and it stops working and they get stuck inside. Her daughter-in-law said, “Yes, I know but it was a chance we had to take. It was too much smoke. With [her need] of oxygen, she couldn’t take that much smoke.”

 

Nicky also explained that Conde couldn’t walk. She said another neighbor also helped them get her into the elevator and her husband came down the fire escape. “I was so scared,” Conde said, adding that she was on the fourth floor. “It was a lot of smoke.”

 

We later asked the Red Cross if anyone had been displaced and they said that their team were on ther way to assess the situation and would update us later. A representative replied, saying, “After the fire on Valentine Avenue in The Bronx, the American Red Cross registered one household (one person) for emergency assistance. The team also provided residents of another apartment with a clean-up kit. If there is anyone from this location who sis not connect with the Red Cross while on scene last night, they should call 877-RedCross.”

 

As reported, three firefighters are recuperating from their injuries following a two-alarm fire on Friday, May 18, in the Harding Park section of the southeast Bronx, near Clason Point. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

During a press conference on Friday, May 17, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh gave an update on the incident which unfolded at 344 White Plains Road at around 3 p.m., along with Chief John Hodgens, FDNY chief of department. Adams said two of the firefighters were in serious but stable condition and one was injured, but in stable condition.

 

Meanwhile, as reported, trying to obtain answers regarding the commercial fire in Norwood that decimated several small businesses last October is proving diffcult.