FDNY challenged by extreme cold and snow while battling Allerton blaze
ALLERTON, Bronx (WABC) -- A fire burned through a building in the Allerton section of the Bronx on Wednesday morning as crews dealt with freezing equipment and worsening conditions due to the extreme weather.
The fire broke out in a building on Adee Avenue just after 4:30 a.m.
Officials say the fire spread through a first-floor deli, two upstairs apartments and a tire store next door.
A flower shop and auto business were also impacted.
A relative of the building owner said that two families who lived upstairs evacuated after smelling smoke.
FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods talked about the difficulty of fighting fires in frigid conditions.
"Some of the challenges in this cold weather, when the water leaves our hose lines, it freezes immediately on the pavement," Woods said. "And we did have problems with some frozen hydrants, we were lucky to have a hydrant right in front of that fire building that was not frozen, but in the surrounding area we had many frozen hydrants."
Firefighters reported some minor slips and falls, but no injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
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