1 civilian dead, 6 firefighters injured in Upper East Side apartment building fire
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- One person was killed and six firefighters were injured after a fire broke out at an apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on Monday.
The fire broke out around 7:15 p.m. at a six-story apartment building located at 526 E. 82nd St. between York and East End avenues.
When crews arrived at the scene, they discovered heavy fire on the fifth and sixth floors which eventually dropped down to the fourth floor.
Juan Cuervo was there as the first firefighters arrived.
"They put it out but then like a minute later it came back, so they weren't able to put it out right away and it was raining glass because they were breaking all the windows," said Juan Cuervo, who was visiting another building on the block.
About 33 units and 138 fire and EMS personnel responded to the fire, which was elevated to three alarms around 7:40 p.m.
Crews stretched multiple hose lines and had to pull apart walls to fight the flames.
"Especially in residential buildings, we have a lot of upward travel of smoke, fire," said FDNY Assistant Chief Tom Currao. "Our biggest challenge is the fire we see, but then it's the fire that we don't see that's in the walls that's traveling, that can quickly go to floor to floor. That makes it challenging."
Neighbors in a high-rise building on the corner watched as firefighters kept the flames from spreading next door.
"They were spraying water on all the other buildings around," said Larry Goldfarb, who lives on the block. "There were a lot of hotspots on the building you could see from our balcony. Firefighters were on the roof, you could see them using flashlights all over the place."
FDNY officials say one civilian was killed, and six firefighters suffered minor injuries.
The civilian, who has not yet been identified, was found in the hallway of the fifth floor.
All the other residents who lived in the 24 apartments made it out safely, but won't be able to go back in for a while after the building suffered extensive fire and water damage.
An MTA bus will come to transport some of the victims who are affected to shelters.
The fire was placed under control around 10:15 p.m.
Fire marshals will investigate the cause of the fire.
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