Three people were killed and 14 others injured following a fast-moving fire at a six-storey apartment building in the Inwood neighbourhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight on Monday 4 May, a residential building constructed in 1910. The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) said it received the emergency call at 12.35am, with first units arriving within three minutes to find a rapidly expanding fire.
“When our units arrived, they encountered a fire on the first floor in the public hall that was rapidly extending up the stairs,” said FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito. “There’s one stairway in this building, and the fire was consuming it from the first floor to the bulkhead on the roof.”
“It was an extremely dangerous and difficult firefighting operation,” he continued, saying, “we had to stretch multiple hoselines and tried to stretch them up the fire escape while at the same time rescuing civilians from those fire escapes in the front and the rear of the building.”
The blaze spread to eight out of the 23 apartments across multiple floors, displacing more than 100 residents. In total, around 190 firefighters and emergency medical personnel responded to the incident, which was brought under control at 3am.
Three residents were pronounced dead at the scene. Five others were transported to hospital in critical condition, with a further nine people treated for injuries, including one firefighter.
Fire officials said open apartment doors significantly contributed to the rapid fire and smoke spread. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore stressed the life-saving role of compartmentation during a fire.
“I know it’s a scary situation in a fire,” she said. “We’re not always thinking straight. But close the door. Make sure all your family members know to do the same.”
She added: “The apartments that had the doors closed had very little impact, no fire. The apartments that had doors open had more impact, more fire.”
Residents described harrowing escape attempts via fire escapes after hallways became impassable. Several residents reported being unable to leave through their front door due to the severity of the flames.
As reported by the New York Times, City housing records show the building had a long history of serious code violations, including issues linked to fire safety such as faulty self?closing doors. The building had been placed in the Alternative Enforcement Program, a scheme used to compel owners to correct hazardous conditions, however a report to the City Council in March showed large numbers of violations had yet to be remedied.
Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Diana Levy said compliance failures would form part of the investigation. “It is under the housing maintenance code a requirement that all doors be self-closing,” she said. “We also need to make sure that landlords are complying with making sure all doors are self-closing.”
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and remains under investigation by the fire marshal.
*image from New York Fire Department