Firefighters got their first look at the six-story building and feared the worst.
With flames shooting through the windows like a blowtorch and so many frantic tenants in the street, it was impossible to know whether anyone was trapped inside.
They ran hoselines up four flights of stairs only to be driven back by a fireball.
Through it all, twenty firefighters suffered mostly minor injuries. It took them nearly an hour to bring the fire under control.
The fire started in an apartment on the 4th floor. In what residents speculate may have been an overloaded electrical circuit.
Firefighters are crediting tenants in that apartment with taking quick action that may have saved their upstairs neighbors.
Approximately 60 residents were being temporarily sheltered at P.S. 130, which has been opened as a reception center for residents to register with the Red Cross.
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