6 people injured in fast-moving fire at Bronx apartment building
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- A fast-moving fire at an apartment building in the Bronx left six people injured, three of which are considered to be in serious condition.
The fire broke out around 12 p.m. Friday at 3514 Rochambeau Ave. between East Gun Hill Road and East 212th Street.
First responders discovered heavy fire on the third floor of the six-story apartment building, which spread to the fourth and fifth floors.
Five hose lines, and nearly 140 fire and EMS personnel were needed to put out the flames, which became a nightmare tenants.
Natalie Betances's mother was one of the tenants trapped inside the burning building. She said that she never heard an alarm, and when she opened the door it was pitch black.
Betances lost her father to cancer a year ago and could not bear losing another parent. Her mother only had enough time get herself out. Betances's father's ashes had to be salvaged by an emergency responder.
"I think I would have been here on the floor if we would have not saved it - he wants to be buried in his native country in the Dominican Republic, so we want to fulfill that dream," Betances said.
Another tenant, Jose Manon, also made it out - only to realize his neighbor's child was still inside.
"The lady, the lady came back - the apartment 4G - crying, 'My baby! My baby inside,'" Manon said.
He says he rushed back into the building and saved the child but ended up at the hospital after inhaling too much smoke.
"The mother said 'thank you' and she came to the hospital and said 'thank you, thank you, thank you,'" Manon said.
In fact, the building fire required multiple rescues, including more children.
"There was a lady yelling out the fire escape. She was screaming her baby, her baby, her baby, her baby was being burnt," one witness said.
A woman says her co-worker climbed the fire escape to rescue the child.
"I grabbed the baby, took off my coat, it was a 5-month-old maybe. She was in diapers," the co-worker said.
"One particular injury came from the fifth floor, it was a young patient that we had to remove from the building, originally she took in a lot of smoke in her apartment," said FDNY Bronx Borough Commander Mike Woods.
FDNY officials say six people were hurt due to the smoke, including three civilians who suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, two civilians who suffered minor injuries and one firefighter who also suffered minor injuries.
The fire was placed under control just before 2 p.m.
The American Red Cross is assisting 19 adults and eight children with housing after being displaced in the bitter cold.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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