Teen dies, 4 injured after large fire engulfs Bronx apartment building, FDNY says

A teenage boy died, and four others are hospitalized after a massive fire ripped through a Bronx apartment building, firefighters said.

More than 100 fire and EMS workers responded just before 1 a.m. Wednesday to the Patterson Houses on Morris Avenue after getting calls that flames had broken out on the 11th floor.

Firefighters rescued a total of five people. Three boys, all believed to be in their early to mid-teens, were rushed into ambulances. 

Two boys were taken to Jacobi Hospital, where one died, and the other remains critical. A third boy was taken to Lincoln Hospital.

Two adults, a 37-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, were also in critical condition. 

While investigators haven't indicated a cause, they said hazmat resources had to be called in for the presence of a lithium-ion battery, which has sparked more than 200 fires in the city in 2026.

A neighbor shared what she saw and heard from first responders. 

"So apparently it was, according to them, it was plugged in in the kitchen, and it blew up next to the stove, and it blocked the entrance. They said that when they tried to open the apartment, the dad was there at the door. Like, I guess he was trying to come out and try to save his family, but he didn't make it. But they were able to pull him out, and he was the first one they were working on the floor that I saw," she said. 

Back in July, the FDNY held a news conference pleading for New Yorkers to store the devices outside after reporting more lithium-ion battery fires year to date than ever before.