Fire, Explosion At Hastings-On-Hudson Condo Complex
HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON , N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A fire and an explosion heavily damaged a town house at a condominium complex in Westchester County, officials said Wednesday.
The fire broke out at a home on Turnberry Drive in Hastings-on-Hudson near the St. Andrew's golf course.
Greenburgh Police Chief Christopher McNerney said emergency workers had just rescued a woman from the second floor of the town house when the explosion erupted.
"The Hastings Fire Department was exiting the residence with an elderly female and as they exited and handed the female off to the Greenburgh police officer and the Greenburgh police EMT, there was an explosion that occurred inside the building," he said.
He said the woman had been trapped in a private elevator inside her home.
"The report was that the resident, who is elderly, had a problem navigating down the stairs so she took the elevator and she may have been stuck," McNerney said.
Firefighters could be seen surrounding the home as smoke poured out of a large hole in the roof. McNerney said the blast may have been a gas explosion.
Neighbors described a chaotic scene.
"I opened the window and I smelled the smoke and then I looked outside and I saw all hell broke loose," a neighbor told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern.
The woman and an emergency worker suffered smoke inhalation.
McNerney said nearby units have been evacuated and gas has been shut off. He said there is concern that the building could partially collapse.
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