A compactor fire at Tracey Towers, the twin-tower, Mitchel Lama, residential housing complex located on the Bedford Park/Norwood border, on Saturday, Nov. 25, resulted in no injuries, according to the FDNY.

 

A spokesperson for the fire department said 12 units, comprising 60 fire and EMS personnel, were dispatched to the 41-story location, with an address at 40 E Mosholu Parkway South which comprises around 871 apartments, after they received a call at 3.34 p.m. on Saturday.

 

The fire official said the fire was brought under control at 4.16 p.m. and the cause remains under investigation. We reached out to Jean Hill, president of the Tracey Towers Tenant Organization, recently honored as a “pillar of the community,” as reported, for comment. Hill said she had been away for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and had not witnessed the fire.

We also reached out to RY Management for comment. The management company previously said the fire system at Tracey Towers is operational and complies with the fire code. They said the system in place is a local address system, not a central alarm system, and the building has 24-hour security and 24-hour maintenance coverage that monitors the local system.

 

They also said the management team has a system whereby it can communicate with all tenants simultaneously, saying the messages go to the phone number provided by the tenant either cell phones or landlines or both.

 

Don Miller from West End Strategies Limited, the PR company appointed by RY Management, told Norwood News of the latest fire, “The FDNY responded to a reported fire condition in the trash compactor room at Tracey Towers on Saturday, November 25, 2023.”

 

He added, “The compactor sprinkler system in the compactor chute was activated, and FDNY extinguished the fire completely and left the premises in under an hour. There were no injuries or damage to any residential unit or any of the common areas of the property. Further questions about the incident or its cause should be directed to the FDNY.”

 

One resident of Building 20 (as opposed to Building 40, where the fire broke out) said on Nov. 27 that she had been also away for Thanksgiving, adding that she had not heard anything nor was notified about a fire.

 

“There is a mechanism [Robo Calls] they have set up supposedly to [call] each apartment [for] emergencies and issues in the building,” the resident said. “Did not hear anything over the weekend or the two days.” The same female resident said she checked with another resident of Building 40, who had also just come back from vacation on Saturday and said that resident told her they had not heard anything about a fire either.

“All I know [is] several elevators were down for two to three days allegedly for repair parts,” the resident of Building 20 said. “Two on the high-rise and one on the low-rise like this building.”

We asked the representatives of RY Management for a comment on the resident’s remarks and will update this story upon receipt of any response. On Nov. 29, the resident said tenants were notified of a meeting scheduled for Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. with a few agenda items, including Saturday’s fire.

As reported, two other recent fires were reported at the housing complex earlier this year. Click here and here for details. A turkey giveaway was recently held at Tracey Towers on Thursday, Nov. 16.

 

For fire safety tips, click here.

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.