FORDHAM HEIGHTS, The Bronx (WABC) — At least 12 people were injured, including one critically, and multiple rescues were made after a fire broke out at a building in the Bronx on Wednesday.
FDNY officials say the “all-hands” fire was reported at 2165 Ryer Ave. on East 182nd and 181st streets in Fordham Heights just after 4 p.m.
Before firefighters even got to the scene, a deli worker named Ali helped lift another man up to the window of the burning building to save little boy trapped inside.
They tried to save other people but were met with flames shooting out the window and growing more intense by the second.
A man named Jonathan Gomez heard the children screaming and ran inside.
“They were screaming like, ‘help, help, help!’ And one of them was saying, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,'” he said.
He and his friend fought through smoke to pull two children out of the fire, in a show of nothing less than community heroism.
“Me, I did it for the simple fact that there were kids involved,” Gomez said. “Feel grateful. Feel like I was here for a reason.”
What appeared to be a third child they were looking for was pulled from the window by firefighters. Multiple rescues were made.
One female victim was located in the hallway and rescued by firefighters, and a second victim was located in a bedroom, and was brought outside via the bucket of the fire truck ladder.
“Units went up. They began searching — the fire apartment. They located the first individual in the hallway, and she was brought out via the interior stairs to the sidewalk,” said FDNY Deputy Chief Andrew Holzmaier.
Officials say 12 people were injured, including one who is in critical condition, and two others who are in serious, but non-life threatening condition. Nine other victims suffered minor injuries. They were taken to nearby hospitals.
Official say the fire was mainly contained to one apartment, but there will be some damage to surrounding apartments, and damage to apartments below.
Fire Marshals began their work once the fire was under control just before 5 p.m. So did the cleanup for shop owners on the ground level of the building on Ryer Avenue. Some of the victims are their customers.
The Red Cross is assisting displaced residents.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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