100 firefighters battle rooftop fire at West Village penthouse
WEST VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) -- It took more than 100 firefighters to knock out flames that erupted on the roof of an apartment building in the West Village on Wednesday morning.
The fire started on the roof of the building on Bank Street just before 7 a.m. and burned through a patio structure on the top of the building.
"These green spaces are great in New York City. It's a great use of what would normally be unused space, but often times we get fires on them. People go out, smoke a cigarette, they drop it. We don't know the cause, I'm not saying that was the cause, but it did start on the roof that communicated into the penthouse and it becomes a difficult fire for units," said Deputy Chief Jospeh Schiralli, FDNY.
It was contained on the roof deck and a penthouse on the roof.
First responders evacuated everyone as bleary-eyed tenants huddled in the morning chill and detailed what they saw and heard.
Barbara Rachko lives on the seventh floor.
"I thought it was my heater. I turned my heater of and then I heard a lot of noise, because, I heard the firefighters coming up the stair and that's how I knew it was a fire," Rachko said.
"I guess a bunch of people heard an explosion. And I ran up to see what was going on. I saw a fire on the roof and so I ran, hit the alarm in the building and I called 911," said tenant Alex Siris.
Investigators say there was no explosion.
The deputy chief credited the building's sprinkler system for putting most of the fire out.
Despite the fire being contained to the upper floors, the FDNY said that there could be water damage to the lower floors.
"There's going to be some significant water damage, to what extent I don't know. It was sprinklered. We did shut down the sprinklers. We wanted to limit the water damage. Once the fire is out we don't need the sprinklers on it. It's just going to cause unnecessary damage to the lower apartments on the lower floors. So, I don't know the extent on the damage right now," Schiralli said.
The American Red Cross registered seven adults for help with housing.
"It is scary, but thankfully I think everyone is OK. I see a lot of gurneys and they are empty and I think most people are accounted for," said tenant Stacey Rosenthal.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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