The smoke may have cleared, but for dozens of Bronx residents, the fallout is only beginning.
Inside P.S. 56, the Red Cross is helping families forced from their homes figure out where they’ll sleep and how they’ll replace what they left behind.
“When the firefighter came, he broke the windows in and told me, ‘Follow me,'” fire victim Odhel Hernandez said.
The Red Cross tells NY1 that at least 29 people have come to the makeshift help center seeking assistance.
Many escaped with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Some now need medication they could not reach before having to get out of their apartments.
“They have medical needs. There’s one man there in a wheelchair who needs to get his medication. Another child there who has a disability,” Council Member Eric Dinowitz said.
Danny Mercado said he smelled gas inside the building before the explosion — and believes it originated next door.
He said the force of the explosion rocked his entire apartment.
“The ceiling fell on my head. I got up to check the noise, the explosion. When I got up, I saw the wall was in my kitchen,” Mercado said.
For Raul Sierra, there was no time to think about what might be lost. His only concern was getting his dog out safely.
“When I grabbed him, I didn’t care anyone. As long as I grabbed him, that’s all it was. Everything else can be replaced,” Sierra said.
Investigators are working to figure out what caused the fire. But for families, the immediate question is how to rebuild.