Firefighters Injured, Families Left Homeless After Bronx Blaze
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Two firefighters were rescued from a partial building collapse at the scene of a fire Saturday in the Bronx.
The blaze began just after 1 p.m. in a three story wood frame building at 726 Van Nest Avenue. Flames then spread to other wood frame and brick buildings.
"I saw the flames and the smoke people was running out their building and stuff," neighbor LaShonda Pressley told CBS 2's Dave Carlin.
"The fire was so huge. It was spreading," said resident Sarah Oklu. "I was crying, screaming."
1010 WINS' Gary Baumgarten was on the scene:
Podcast
More than 200 firefighters responded. Two of them were on the first floor of the first building when the ceiling came down.
"We had fire in four buildings throughout this operation," said FDNY Chief Ron Spadafora. "We have approximately 200 firefighters working at this fire."
"Two firefighters were caught in the ceiling collapse they were rescued by two members inside the fire building," he added.
More than 10 families were left homeless, including Fernando Gonzalez, his wife and two kids.
"Everything, it destroyed everything. Everything is gone," he said.
"Red Cross came in to supply us with water, some snacks, and they're trying to get us a place to live if we can't get in," said Oklu.
Check back with CBSNewYork.com as we continue to update this developing story...
