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A gas explosion at an apartment building in the Bronx has left one person dead and more than a dozen others injured The incident occurred in the early morning hours on Saturday, Jan. 24 when first responders were already on the scene responding to the report of an odor of gas150 homes in the building are being evacuated after the explosion
At least one person has died and multiple others were injured after a gas explosion at an apartment building in New York City.
The New York Fire Department shared in a press release that officials were responding to a report of an odor of gas in the Bronx when an explosion occurred.
The call came at 12:09 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3485 Bivonia Street in the Bronx.
The department confirmed that one person died after the explosion developed into a fire, noting, “FDNY EMS treated and transported 15 patients to local hospitals. FDNY Fire Marshals are investigating the cause.”
“While our units were here investigating the odor of gas on the 15th and 16th floors, we had members on the 16th floor when the explosion occurred,” Chief of Department John Esposito said.
“We had severe structural damage in six apartments on each floor. We eventually had fire in five apartments on the 16th floor and five apartments on the 17th floor,” he added.
PEOPLE has contacted the New York Police Department and the Fire Commissioner of New York for further comment.
The Bronx apartment building after the explosion on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in New York.
Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty
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“It was a very, very dangerous operation for our firefighters, who performed incredibly on those upper floors, searching and protecting civilian life,” the chief continued.
Emergency responders at the scene of the gas explosion in the Bronx, New York on Jan. 24, 2026.
New York City Fire Department
Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said at a Public Information Briefing on Saturday that the explosion occurred “within 15 minutes” of the officials investigating the odor in the apartment building’s upper floors.
The explosion “led to fires in multiple areas on the upper floors,” he said, adding that over 230 EMS and fire resources responded to the scene.
Chief Kathleen Knuth also said that “one critically ill person, five serious and eight minor,” were treated at the scene before being transported to the hospital.
Earlier during the briefing, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning, Leila Bozorg, stated that the cause of the explosion was being investigated.
She added that around 150 homes in the apartment building would be evacuated ahead of Sunday’s winter storm.