BELMONT, The Bronx (PIX11) — The Bronx has to recover from yet another devastating fire that claimed two lives and left a dozen people injured, including firefighters.
Over 70 people are displaced. Uncertainty remains as the community attempts to rally together to support the victims.
The fire tore through the building quickly— leaving residents with little time to get out by escaping and jumping, or being rescued by firefighters.
But one family was still searching for their loved one.
Michelle Gonzalez’s family passed out missing posters on Wednesday, roughly 24 hours after she was seen going into 660 East 187th St. minutes before the fire broke out. It’s also the last time her family heard from her.
“We called all the hospitals. She’s not there, so we’re just trying to see if anything is coming up. But we’re just kind of devastated as a family,” Michelle’s sister-in-law Eslin Silva told PIX11.
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“I don’t want to think like that, but, yeah,” Silva said.
Around the corner from the charred remains of the building, inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, the community quickly rallied around families now left without a home.
“It’s a testament that just the love that exists here in the section of the Bronx and the love that we have for each other and just the desire just to help,” Carlos Germosen, of the church, said.
The church community told PIX11 that it’s already loaded up with the food, toiletries, clothing, and even legal resources and other support— to help for as long as it takes.
Spencer Gustafson is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered New York state and city news since 2023. See more of his work here.
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