70-year-old man killed in fire at NYCHA apartment building in Allerton section of the Bronx
ALLERTON, The Bronx (WABC) -- A elderly man lost his life after an apartment fire broke out in the Allerton section of the Bronx Tuesday morning.
Firefighters got numerous calls for people trapped in their apartments by smoke at the city-run Eastchester Gardens just before 3:15 a.m.
Twelve units with 60 fire and EMS personnel arrived on scene. Fire crews were met by heavy smoke and fire streaming out of an apartment window.
A 70-year-old man was found in the rear of a fourth-floor apartment and pronounced dead at the scene.
The man's identity has not yet been released.
He is now the 14th person age 65 or older to die in a fire since November 9.
A troubling pattern over the past two months shows a notable increase in older New Yorkers dying in fires:
Of the at least 60 people who have died in fires so far the year, 38 of them were 65 years or older -- about 63%
At this time last year, the city had seen 73 fire fatalities, but only 32 were 65 years or older (43%)
Only around 13% of the city's population is 65 or older.
Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire.
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