3 dead, 5 in critical condition amid destructive apartment fire in Inwood
INWOOD, Manhattan (WABC) -- Three people have died after an apartment fire in Inwood overnight.
The FDNY says flames broke out on the first floor of an apartment on Dyckman Street after 12:35 a.m. on Monday.
Fourteen people were hurt, and five of them are in critical condition, including several children. A firefighter was also hurt.
"Three people have passed away due to this tragic fire," said New York City Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa. "And there are five people who are in critical condition. Hopefully that number does not go up."
More than 100 people are displaced and are getting help from the Red Cross.
The FDNY is reminding people of the importance of shutting the door behind you in a fire to prevent major damage.
Juan Carlos Murraya Ceveda was visibly traumatized after hearing children trapped inside his burning building, crying for help.
A young woman was standing outside of his window on the fire escape, burning. He says he covered her with his jacket and she begged him to save her father.
He ran back inside but couldn't find him.
The fire started on the first floor then consumed the stairwells and hallways and rocketed up through the roof of the six-story building.
Firefighters arrived within three minutes to find residents trapped on the fire escape and thick black smoke pouring out of the building.
"As soon as my father opened the door, he shut it because the flames were so strong and I could hear the flames. So, we immediately headed to the fire escape to head out because I knew we couldn't take the stairs," resident Rita Vega said.
Vega says her family's apartment door was repaired not long ago, to be self-closing, but fire officials say other doors that didn't close helped the flames shoot from the first floor to the roof.
It took 200 FDNY personnel nearly two and a half hours to get the fire under control.
"It is under the housing maintenance code, a requirement that all doors be self-closing and so if tenants are propping them open, we do need to do more to educate them on why not to do that. But we also need to make sure that landlords are complying with making sure all doors are self-closing," Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy said.
Closed doors can help lessen or even completely prevent the spread of fire, which is why it's better to sleep with bedroom doors closed.
"We are going to do everything within our power to ensure that those are being taken and that New Yorkers understand the consequences of that," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
The DOB issued an immediate emergency declaration to seal the premises in the interest of public safety.
For now, about 100 residents can't go in until Wednesday, and 39 adults and four children may be displaced much longer. There were phones lost and left behind. Elected officials told Eyewitness News that the Red Cross is helping people find a place to stay and find their relatives.
"They're helping us to reunite families," De La Rosa said.
The three victims who died have not been formally identified, but they were all adults. Two of the victims were from the same family, and all three of them had lived in the building for decades.
A nearby church, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, is hosting a donation collection for the survivors.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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