An 85-year-old man was killed and another man was fighting for his life after a fire tore through a Bronx apartment, officials said Saturday.
The fire broke out inside a first-floor apartment of the five-story building on Jesup Ave. near Sherif S. Byrd Place in Highbridge at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, according to FDNY officials.
“Units arrived within four minutes,” said Battalion Chief Timothy Reznick. “We were met with fire at the door in apartment 1C. We had to go to a second alarm due to manpower, the smoke condition throughout the building and the many (victims).”
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An 85-year-old man was killed and another man was fighting for his life after a fire tore through a Bronx apartment, officials said Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
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An 85-year-old man was killed and another man was fighting for his life after a fire tore through a Bronx apartment, officials said Saturday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
The fire had gutted the first-floor apartment. An 85-year-old man and a second unidentified victim were removed from the burning apartment and rushed to Harlem Hospital, where the octogenarian died. His name was not immediately disclosed as cops track down family members.
The second man in the apartment remained in critical condition at Harlem Hospital Saturday.
Five other building residents and four firefighters suffered smoke inhalation and other injuries in the blaze and were taken to area hospitals for treatment, officials said.
As firefighters arrived at the scene, they found a car parked in front of the nearest fire hydrant. While the car didn’t stop firefighters from getting water on the fire, the vehicle was towed, and the owner will receive a criminal summons punishable by a $5,000 fine.
Firefighters were also recorded using a ladder to prop up and move a Smartcar parked at a corner on the narrow block to allow a fire truck to roll through.
Fire marshals on Saturday were trying to determine what sparked the fatal fire.
