The FDNY said three people were injured following a fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday morning, March 4, in Norwood. Meanwhile, there appears to be a difference of opinion about where the fire actually started, with the FDNY saying the third floor while many residents of the building allege it started on the first floor.

 

An FDNY spokesperson said all hands were asked to respond to a call at 2.14 a.m. regarding the blaze from 275 East Gun Hill Road, a 6-story residential building (200 x 100) close to Putnam Place.

 

The said the fire was on the 3^rd floor and that 12 units comprising 60 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene. They said the three injured people were treated and released at the scene and the fire was brought under control at 3.11 a.m.

They said fire marshals will investigate the cause of the blaze.

 

Two videos recorded by Marc, a resident of the building, show the damage to the inside, as well as the scene outside. Marc said he had been due to get up for work an hour after the fire broke out, when he was awoken by his sister who was screaming “fire” at around 2 a.m. He said residents began to evacuate the building as the FDNY were arriving.

He said it was quite a chaotic scene and that he had to take some time to get his two dogs before evacuating. We asked if the dogs had been frightened and he said at least one had been coughing due to the smoke.

 

“You could smell the smoke once I woke up and we looked up into the hallway, because we were going to try to run downstairs because we have our animals and everything, but once we looked in the hallway, it was just so fogged up, you couldn’t even see the neighbor’s doors or anything,” Marc said.

A VIDEO RECORDED by Marc, a resident of 275 East Gun Hill Road in Norwood shows the destruction in the aftermath of a fire which broke out in his building at around 2 a.m. on Monday morning, March 4, 2024. Video courtesy of Marc, resident of 275 East Gun Hill Road.

Asked if a fire alarm had gone off, he replied, “No fire alarm went off.” Asked if there were regular fire drills held in the building, he said, “Not as of lately from what I’m aware of. Back then, growing up, yeah, they used to do this but I mean I guess they fell off throughout the years.”

 

Asked if there was a sprinkler system, he said that the building was old and as far as he knew, it didn’t have a sprinkler system. Marc added, “But I mean the building works together so you know, once they screamed, ‘Fire!’ everybody was helping… if anybody needed help.”

 

Marc alleges the fire started on the first floor.

When we informed one female resident who declined to be identified that the FDNY said the fire was on the third floor, she also said, “No, it started on the first floor.” Pointing to one side of the building near Apartment 1B, the woman added, “No, go outside. That’s where the fire started. Go ahead and look at where the fire started. It was on the first floor.”

 

The door of Apartment 1B was seen damaged by fire/smoke as was the ceiling overhead in the hallway. A window in the hallway opposite the apartment door was broken and the damaged contents of Apartment 1B were seen lined up outside the apartment. The smell of smoke was still prevalent. More damaged items were seen outside the building in a little courtyard area.

A VIDEO RECORDED by Marc, a resident of 275 East Gun Hill Road in Norwood shows the scene on East Gun Hill Road in the aftermath of a fire which broke out in his building at around 2 a.m. on Monday morning, March 4, 2024. Video courtesy of Marc, resident of 275 East Gun Hill Road.

The female resident said she didn’t know the people impacted by the fire and only knew her neighbor who she said had a heart problem. Asked if everyone had to evacuate, the woman said, “We went outside for maybe an hour, and then came back in.” Asked if everyone evacuated, she replied, “No, not everyone because we have people in wheelchairs and we have babies and other people and it’s [the fire] on that side of the building [gesturing to the section over Apartment 1B]. On this side of the building we’re ok.”

 

Asked if it had been frightening, the woman said it had been.

Frederic Klein, regional communications manager from the American Red Cross, said that after the fire, the organization registered two households (four individuals) for emergency assistance, including temporary lodging and financial assistance.

 

“Any residents affected by this fire who need help with their recovery and were not able to connect with the Red Cross on scene should call 877-RED CROSS (877-733-2767),” he said.

On Monday evening, a male and female resident of Apartment 1B were seen inside the building, crouched over, half asleep, sitting on their damaged belongings under the stairs outside their damaged apartment. We asked if they had been assisted by the Red Cross and they said they had been, but that the hotel at LaGuardia Airport where they had been put up was too far away from their apartment to get there.

 

We asked if we could assist them in calling anyone and they agreed to share their number which we passed on to the Red Cross. Klein said the Red Cross would contact them accordingly. He later provided an update, saying, “Our team spoke with the residents and reiterated the various resources that are available to assist with their recovery, including temporary lodging, financial assistance (which can be used to cover immediate needs, such as transportation or storage) and access to a Red Cross caseworker in the morning.”

 

When Norwood News spoke to other residents of the building on Monday, they also disputed that the fire was on the third floor and said it started on the 1st floor in Apartment 1B. We checked again with the FDNY and were informed that the fire was on the third floor.

We spoke to a second female resident who said she lived with two other family members in an apartment on the 4th floor of the building, and asked her how she had been alerted to the fire. Speaking in Spanish, she said, “Well, we were all sleeping and suddenly some neighbors came to tell us all this [the fire] was happening,” she said.

 

She continued, “We all left running but grabbing what we had in terms of important papers, things of value. When we arrived on the second floor, the corridor was filled with smoke. I was fearful because the smoke was really strong.” The woman said there was also a horrible odor  and she surmised that the belongings of the impacted apartment where the fire broke out had been very badly damaged. We asked which apartment was that and she pointed to 1B.

 

She added, “When we got downstairs, everyone was in shock due to the smoke.” She said the smoke reached people’s lungs and as a result, they exited the building onto the street. She reiterated that when the firefighters arrived, not all neighbors were evacuated. She said some were in the top floor apartments and added that the firefighters were able to control the situation.

The woman went on to say that her apartment was located on the same side of the building as Apartment 1B and that the smoke had risen up through the air conditioning system and had entered all the apartments in the floors above it.

 

We later spoke to another male resident of the building who also declined to be identified and who said he had called 911 to raise the alarm. He also said he believed the fire started in Apartment 1B.  We asked how he knew this. “I was told,” he said. “And I kinda witnessed.” Referring to a male resident of Apartment 1B, the man said, “He was playing with acetone, like nail polish remover and fire.” We asked the man if he saw this directly with his own eyes / if he had been inside Apartment 1B at the time to see it for himself.

 

The man laughed and referring to the resident of Apartment 1B said, “No, I don’t associate with that man.” We asked again how he saw the man “playing with acetone” therefore. He said, “[I] opened my door because I went to go scream at them because they was making noise in the hallway, because he was doing some other stuff.”

The man continued, “And I really don’t like too much traffic, and he brings a lot of danger to the building so whenever I hear noise in the building, I’m like.. ‘Go to security.'”

 

Asked to describe exactly what had happened, the man said, “I mean, I heard noises. They was banging on something. I think he was either breaking apart or building a shelf or trying to build a shelf, him and maybe somebody else.” Asked if this was inside Apartment 1B, the man said, “No, it was in the hallway, and then I came out. I told them…. because it was like…this was probably like from 12 to two [in the morning].”

 

The man said he then came out of his apartment and told the two to move their stuff to their side of the corridor because he didn’t want their stuff in front of his apartment. “They were making too much noise in the front of my door,” he said. “I closed my door. I heard the guys like jumping around again. I went to go back outside. Then I see the smoke and the guy that he was with, he came out like, like kind of laughing at the… at the dude so I’m thinking they created like a small fire.”

The man said that the second man who was with the resident of Apartment 1B said the resident of Apartment 1B was just “going crazy” and had “spilled some fire on some CDs or something.” The man said he told the resident’s visitor to tell the resident of Apartment 1B to put out the fire and said he then closed his door again because he didn’t want the smoke to enter and assumed it was just a minor flame. He said then he later heard the resident’s girlfriend screaming and that’s when everyone then later evacuated.

 

The man alleges the residents of 1B owned cats and that they let the cats die in the fire. We asked the FDNY if this was the case. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

An unpopulated (empty fields) fire safety plan was seen posted inside the main door of the building. Norwood News attempted to reach the Management Company for comment on fire safety arrangements in the building and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback. We have also reached out to the tenant from 1B and will share any updates we receive.

At home fire safety tips can be found at www.fdnysmart.org. The Office of the Bronx Borough President recently kicked off a new series of fire safety training sessions around the borough in conjunction with the FDNY.