One firefighter was transferred to hospital after a fire broke out, apparently in the attic, in a residential building at 2846 Heath Avenue in Kingsbridge on Thursday morning, Aug. 3, at around 11 a.m. according to local residents and the FDNY.

 

A RESIDENTIAL FIRE is seen apparently in the attic of a residential building at 2846 Heath Avenue in Kingsbridge on Thursday morning, Aug. 3, 2023. Video courtesy of the Citizens’ App.

 

An FDNY spokesperson said they received a call at 10.55 a.m. on Thursday morning for reports of the fire, which the spokesperson said was brought under control at 11.24 a.m. The spokesperson added that one firefighter had been transported to New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan following the incident for minor injuries.

Some residents of the building were waiting outside their home on Thursday morning for firefighters to complete their work. They appeared dazed, with one woman appearing to be particularly upset.

 

Another was talking on a cell phone. They declined to be interviewed.

 

Before receiving the official incident report on the fire from the FDNY press team, we had spoken to a neighbor, Ricky Ilanes, and had asked if he knew if anybody had been hurt. “I don’t think anyone was hurt,” he said.

 

“They were all outside when I came outside,” he added, referring to his neighbors.

 

Asked if he had seen the fire and if there had been a lot of smoke, IIanes said, “Yeah, a lot. That was all you could see, no fire, just smoke on the top at the back.”

 

We asked llanes how he first became aware of the fire. “I was in the bathroom, and I smelled it when I was brushing my teeth,” he said. In reference to the firefighters, llanes said, “They came right away.”

Bronx All Hands Box 3389, 2846 HEATH AVE, PRIVATE DWELLING, ATTIC, Under Control

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) August 3, 2023

The local firehouse is located close by at 3025 Bailey Avenue, about a five-minute walk away from the fire scene at which several fire trucks and about two dozen firefighters and other fire officials were observed.

 

Some neighbors had also exited their homes to take in the scene, and at least one stretcher was seen at the ready but no injured people.

 

We asked another neighbor, James Figueroa, for his reaction to the fire. “It’s a sad thing,” he said. “It wasn’t a big fire though thank God but it looks like they got burned down, and they have a lot of damage.”

 

Figueroa added, ” I just hope that they recuperate fast. That’s about it.”

 

Another male resident reiterated the point, saying, “Hopefully there wasn’t too much damage. Fires can cause a lot of damage.”

 

Firefighters were seen throwing items, including some furniture, out of the top windows of the affected building, once the fire had been extinguished.

We also spoke to a local employee who was manning a nearby parking lot. Speaking in Spanish, he told Norwood News, “I didn’t see the fire as it was happening. I just saw a lot of fire trucks arriving. I saw the smoke coming out of the building.”

 

Referring to the firefighters, the employee said, “They worked fast.”

 

On his thoughts on the incident as a whole, he said, “Well, it’s not good.. dangerous, but it went off ok, thanks be to God.”

 

He added, “Hopefully, nobody died.”