Reports of a fire at Tracey Towers, a Mitchel Lama, residential housing complex located on the Bedford Park/Norwood border, on Saturday morning, July 15, proved to be unfounded, and the incident was later classified as an electrical issue, FDNY officials said.

 

An FDNY truck was seen responding to the incident on Saturday morning and when contacted for more information, Norwood News was advised that units were assigned to 20 West Mosholu Parkway on the Bedford Park/Norwood border, the location of the buildings, for reports of an electrical fire.

 

“Units on scene were able to determine that the incident was not a fire, but an electrical issue,” an FDNY spokesperson said. The official said a utilities company was notified about the issue and the incident was “closed normally” at 11.54 a.m.

 

The spokesperson said there were no injuries resulting from the incident. We asked which utility company was contacted and the FDNY spokesperson said, “Different utility companies service different areas of the city. Our records denote ‘utility company.’ As a result, you’d have to research what company serves that area as we don’t have that information on hand.”

 

Norwood News therefore reached out to utility companies to ask which one serves the address in question. One Tracey Towers resident said she believes it is Con Edison, which has been contacted for comment.

Norwood News reached out to Jean Hill, president of the Tracey Towers Tenant Organization about the incident, who said, “Nothing to do with us but Con Ed was digging in front of the bus stop [located in front of the towers].”

 

The towers are located not far from the New York City Transit / MTA Mosholu / Jerome Maintenance Yard, where trains are often seen parked, and where a female transit worker, Azure Forde, 38, was potentially electrocuted and died during a work site incident, as reported, on April 8, 2022.

 

The MTA announced on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, that its members were heartbroken to announce that they had lost a colleague as she was putting a train into service at the Mosholu Yard, located at 3199, 2985 Jerome Avenue.

 

Norwood News has reached out to both the MTA and the City’s medical examiner for an update on the final cause of death and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback.

Meanwhile, Norwood News was on-site at the 871-unit Tracey Towers housing complex on the morning of July 15. Most residents appeared to be unaware of any incident taking place. No air conditioning appeared to be available in the lobby of Building 40 despite the 86% humidity experienced on the day.

 

Residents, who were seen entering and leaving with shopping carts, and delivery workers, who were also seen carrying bulky materials in and out of Building 40, alike appeared to be suffering as a result. A security guard, fitted in a standard-looking, long-sleeve security uniform, was seen seated apparently beside a plug-in fan to keep cool.

 

Similar humidity was evident inside Building 40 on Saturday afternoon, June 24, as recently reported, when a stove fire broke out on the 27th floor of at the twin tower housing complex. The fire did not spread and neither did it result in any injuries on that day, according to the FDNY.

Tracey Towers, designed by architect, Paul Rudolph, is made up of two, high-rise towers, comprising units of various sizes, including one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. It is part of NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD)’s Mitchell Lama affordable rental and cooperative program for moderate and middle-income families, the 2nd largest Bronx co-op, according to HPD. It is home to a large Ghanaian community, among other residents.

 

According to a fire safety notice seen on June 24 posted to the notice board on the ground floor of the 38-floor tower (Building 40), which also has one floor below ground, the affected building structure is “non-combustible,” and there is an alarm on each floor by the exit door of Wing A. The alarm does not transmit to the fire department according to the notice.

 

Also, according to the notice, there is no emergency voice communication system and no public address system. The building has a “partially covered” sprinkler system, according to the notice, with coverage in the compactor chute and sprinkler heads inside the chute on the 39th, 5th, and 3rd floors, as well as in the laundry room, storage space, and main concourse compactor roof.

Norwood News also reached out for comment on the electrical incident to the Tracey Towers management company, RY Management. Don Miller, a representative for the PR firm which represents RY Management said, “There was no ‘electrical issue’ at Tracey Towers. A tenant purchased an appliance, a freezer, and installed it in the apartment. When they plugged it in, the appliance sparked. The resident was told to remove the appliance from their apartment immediately.”

We also asked if the fire safety set-up as laid out in the fire notices seen in Building 40 follows FDNY recommendations. Miller said, “The fire system at Tracey Towers is operational and complies with the fire code. It is a local address system, not a central alarm system. The Building has 24-hour security and 24-hour maintenance coverage that monitors the local system.”

He added, “Concerning a voice communication system, management has a system where we can communicate with all tenants simultaneously. The messages go to the phone number provided by the tenant, either cell phones,  landlines, or both.” He added that residents had expressed their appreciation for this system of notifying them directly by phone of a fire several years ago when they received calls letting them know what was taking place and what to do every step of the way.

 

Meanwhile, despite reports of smoke seen in the vicinity of a gas station located at nearby 2885 Jerome Avenue in Bedford Park on Sunday, May 14, (Mother’s Day), as reported, we were unable to obtain any explanation as to what caused the smoke on the day in question.

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.