Hundreds Of Firefighters Battle 5-Alarm Fire At Bronx Apartment Building

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A firefighter and at least one other person are seriously hurt after fire breaks out in a building in the Bronx.

At least five people have been hospitalized. Firefighters were still trying to contain the flames late Friday night.

The five-alarm blaze started on the sixth floor of an apartment building on the Grand Concourse by East 172nd Street around 8 p.m.

Massive flames could be seen shooting out of the roof from blacks away. At least two of the nine total wings that make up the building caught fire.

Authorities on scene told CBS2's Ali Bauman it spread to the cockloft, which puts even more of the building in danger.

One firefighter and one civilian are being treated for serious injuries and three other firefighters are being treated for minor injuries.

First responders have been trying to make sure everyone has been evacuated and are breaking open windows to let out some of the smoke.

Hundreds of building residents and neighbors watch from the street, shivering and terrified.

"We were in our fifth-floor apartment getting ready for bed and we smell smoke and we come out and the roof is on fire," Felicia Gibbs said. "So the apartment above us we see lights going back and forth, they bust the windows already so I'm hoping they don't have to go down a floor cause that'd be us."

"Me and my grandma came down and tried to see what it was. We're praying right now it all stops and I dunno if I have any friends in that building or anything I just want everyone to live," a young boy told Bauman.

The main body of the fire has been knocked down as of 11 p.m. Friday, but of course the emergency responders still have a long night ahead getting the fire fully out and making sure it is safe before any of the residents can return home.

In:
• Bronx
• FDNY
• New York