A five-alarm fire tore through a five-story mixed-use building in the Bronx on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 21, leaving at least two dead and 11 others injured, authorities with the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said in a press conference.
The FDNY released this footage showing smoke and flames billowing from the roof of the building as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.
In a livestream on X, FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said they received a call about a fire at 1:32 pm.
“This particular assignment brought over 84 fire and EMS units, which was about 270 plus fire and EMS members coming here to do their life-saving work of rescuing people, evacuating the building, fighting fire, and providing the highest-quality medical care possible,” Bonsignore said. “This particular assignment unfortunately ended with multiple patients, including two fatalities. Not prepared to talk about any other information about that at this moment, it’s under investigation by our fire marshals.”
Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods said they arrived on scene to heavy fire on the first floor.
“This fire rapidly raced up the stairs involving all floors of this building,” Woods said.
Deputy Assistant Chief Stacy Scanlan said they had “13 patients” in total, including “two fatalities, two serious transported to local hospital, five minor firefighters transported, and four minor civilians transported to local hospitals.” Credit: FDNY via Storyful