6 injured when fire in Manhattan causes part of roof to collapse, forces residents out into cold
A fire on Manhattan's Upper West Side forced residents out into the cold Tuesday morning. The FDNY said three residents and three firefighters were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
The fire started at around 8:20 a.m. on the top floor of a six-story building on West 107th Street near Amsterdam Avenue.
The Department of Buildings later issued a full vacate order due to concerns about a possible collapse. Parts of the street are now blocked due to those concerns.
The Red Cross said 45 people, including four children, are receiving emergency assistance from 24 households. They'll spend the next few nights in hotels. Other residents in need of help can contact the Red Cross at 1-877-733-2767.
The FDNY said units were on the scene within three minutes of the call coming in. The flames shot up and could be seen from miles away.
"This building is a six-story non-fireproof building, with four units per floor," FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods said during a news conference at the scene. "Upon arrival, we had heavy, heavy fire on that top floor and through the roof. The fire heavily involved three of those four apartments, and that fourth apartment -- and some of the apartments below -- have heavy, heavy damage."
"Those firemen ran into the building like a force"
Witnesses said they saw firefighters run in to rescue people.
"I saw them carrying out two elderly people alive," neighbor Evelyn Lanoix said. "When the fire department came up here, and they knew somebody was in there, those firemen ran into the building like a force to save whoever they could."
One woman told CBS News New York in Spanish that she has diabetes and can hardly walk. Another man said one of the tenants living in a top-floor apartment of the 40-unit building is a man in a wheelchair, but heard he made it out.
"Sometimes he walks with a walker, but he's very old. I was very worried. I hope he's OK. Even if he made it, I hope he's OK, because, you know, the fire sometimes don't get you, the smoke does," neighbor Raymond Yepez said.
The city's Office of Emergency Management brought warming buses to the scene. Temperatures were only in the 20s, making it a cold morning for residents and first responders.
Manhattan fire causes part of roof to collapse
Chopper 2 flew over the building, where thick smoke could be seen billowing into the sky.
The FDNY shared a photo of the damage on social media, showing part of the roof had collapsed onto the sixth floor.
"We had a heavy collapse of the roof space into the top floor, and also of the parapet wall into the street," Woods said on the scene. "We have a collapse zone set up, not only in the street, but on the roof and inside those apartments."
The fire prompted a four-alarm response, with about 150 fire and EMS personnel on the scene.
"Due to the amount of fire and the structural stability, we had to remove them to below that top floor, and open up with tower ladders," Woods said. "These are large-caliber streams and able to extinguish that fire."
"It was smoke in the stairways, also smoke -- a lot of smoke -- but I came out," said Alejandro Castro. "I feel very warm, I shake my jacket. I thought the fire was on my back."
"I am very scared because I have diabetes," tenant Concepcion Castro said. "[It's] not possible, walking very well."
"The life can change in one minute, in one second," Alejandro Castro added.
Cold temperatures created hazardous conditions
Firefighters could be seen battling the blaze from atop the roof and from ladder trucks below.
Fire officials said the cold weather caused their water to freeze on the ground, creating dangerous conditions in the area.
"To begin with, firefighting is physically demanding. In weather like this, as you can see, we're working with our partners [at the] Department of Sanitation trying to spread salt on the street and sidewalk. Many people already took falls," Woods said.
Woods said, at this point, there's no word on a potential cause of the fire.
