{"id":2967,"date":"2025-10-15T04:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T04:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2967\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T04:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T04:47:18","slug":"miracle-in-the-bronx-after-gas-explosion-blows-through-nyc-apartment-building-sends-chunks-flying-to-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2967\/","title":{"rendered":"Miracle in the Bronx after gas explosion blows through NYC apartment building, sends chunks flying to street"},"content":{"rendered":"

A massive gas explosion blew a huge chunk out of a Bronx public housing<\/a> building Wednesday morning, sending bricks raining down onto the sidewalk and leaving a gaping hole in the facade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 8:10 a.m. blast at the high-rise at\u00a0the Mitchel Houses project on Alexander Avenue near East 135th Street left a 20-story gash along a corner of the building, and sent firefighters scrambling to the scene, officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard like the building was moving,\u201d resident Merlyno Olivo, 51, told The Post. \u201cI heard like a big boom. I thought, \u2018What is this? Is it an earthquake\u00a0or something like that?\u2019 But it started shaking quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

A massive collapse in the Bronx sent chunks of building plummeting to the street Wednesday morning. James Keivom<\/p>\n

Firefighters found a collapse in the incinerator shaft caused the disaster. James Keivom<\/p>\n

Tenant Linda Duke, 79, said she fled down five flights of stairs with the help of a younger resident \u2014 who carried her on his back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to know how loud it is? Get a firecracker and light it and listen,\u201d Duke said. \u201cI heard people hollering. All I could see is smoke. I couldn\u2019t see nothing. You couldn\u2019t see s\u2013t.\u201d<\/p>\n

No injuries were reported after first responders sifted through the rubble and brought in FDNY dogs to look for survivors, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely fortunate,\u201d Mayor Eric Adams said during a press briefing at the scene. \u201cAt this time, we have no loss of life or injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents of the F and G lines in the building were evacuated, and other tenants can reoccupy the building at this time, once we ensure the safety of the structure,\u201d the mayor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He noted that Wednesday marked the first day when boilers at public housing complexes are turned on for the winter \u2014 although officials cautioned that it\u2019s unclear if that played any role in the blast.<\/p>\n

Firefighters from the FDNY responding to an explosion at 205-207 Alexander Ave. in the Bronx. James Keivom<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one woke up this\u00a0morning\u00a0and said we want an explosion here at this building,\u201d Adams said.\u00a0\u201cAnyone knows that when gas is involved, you want\u00a0to\u00a0take as much precaution as possible, and when things like this happen, you investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The section of the complex that collapsed was part of the chimney structure, NYCHA officials confirmed. They expected demolition of the remaining structure would continue over the coming days.<\/p>\n

City Buildings Commissioner James Oddo<\/a> said there are three open violations for the boilers in the Mitchell Houses, but said they are for \u201cnon-safety related defects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just urge caution that we don\u2019t jump to any conclusions that they are related,\u201d Oddo said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if they are or they aren\u2019t. We certainly will let everyone know as soon as our team has done its full assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n

FDNY inspecting the area at street level. James Keivom<\/p>\n

City Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said the explosion took place along a ventilation shaft connected to the building\u2019s boiler, but investigators are still trying to determine the exact cause.<\/p>\n

Con Edison, the Department of Buildings and the city\u2019s Office of Emergency Management also responded, and the investigation is ongoing, police said.<\/p>\n

An emergency shelter for tenants was set up at a community center on Alexander Avenue, and MTA buses \u201chave been warranted for sheltering,\u201d OME officials said on X.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tenants in the affected portions of the building were later given vouchers to stay in area hotels, while other residents were allowed to return home.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive gas explosion blew a huge chunk out of a Bronx public housing building Wednesday morning, sending…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,3530,3531,57,9,24,63,305,129,131,130,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-2967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-buildings","10":"tag-explosions","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nycha","16":"tag-the-bronx","17":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","18":"tag-the-bronx-news","19":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}