Some displaced tenants of Bronx apartment building say valuables are missing 1 week after deadly fire

One week after a fatal fire in the Bronx, some residents were allowed back inside for the first time Thursday to retrieve whatever they could salvage.

More than 40 people have been displaced, and some of them reported belongings missing from their damaged apartments.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

Man arrested for stealing AC units after fire

Jacqueline Diaz, who lived in a first-floor apartment on East 209th Street in Norwood for nearly three decades, said she and her two sons were able to retrieve some personal documents and medication, but computers and jewelry were missing.

"I don't find my money, either. I got $350," she said. "Somebody took the drawer."

Police say a 29-year-old New Jersey man was arrested Saturday for removing multiple air conditioning units. As for the valuables that tenants say are missing, managing agent Marc Katz said he'd speak to the city.

"We had put on padlocks into every apartment and we are padlocking the front door to the building, and all the fire escape windows, we're going to be shutting down," he said.

"Look now, I'm in the street. I don't have nothing," Diaz said. "Disaster. It's a disaster."

3 found dead after explosion, fire

The FDNY said three people died in the Aug. 5 fire, including 70-year-old Lester Martin and 65-year-old Mary Ann Martin, who lived on the third floor.

The couple's daughter-in-law, Raychell Strayhorn, had been living with them, but was out of town when the fire happened. Thursday was her first time back at the building.

"We just came back [last] Monday from Poconos, vacation, and then this happens," she said. "They would help you. They'll feed you, love you like their own."

Strayhorn said her husband, the Martins' son, recently died, and she had been hoping to retrieve his urn from the apartment, but it was not cleared for entry by the Department of Buildings.

Some units still unsafe to enter

Units on the fourth and fifth floors of the building also have not been cleared for entry.

"I wanted to get my son's birth certificate and his clothes," resident Iris Nazario said. 

The landlord said they will try to help them next week.

"I'm talking with the fire department and the engineers to see if it's possible," Katz said.

He said the city is also requiring the landlord to work with an asbestos company to make sure the units are safe to temporarily enter.

Katz said tenants who paid August rent can either come to the Brooklyn leasing office or get their checks mailed to them.