Firefighters Treated For Heat Exhaustion After Battling 5-Alarm Blaze In Port Chester
PORT CHESTER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Firefighters worked into Sunday evening checking hot spots following an earlier fire in a three-story apartment building.
The blaze broke out at around 12:30 p.m. on North Main Street in Port Chester, and eventually reached five alarms. Officials said the building is a total loss. A restaurant next door that was about to reopen was also destroyed.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but it was so intense, two firefighters were taken to a hospital for heat exhaustion. One of them was also treated for smoke inhalation, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported.
The fire sent black smoke and embers flying through the area, prompting the response of 200 firefighters from seven municipalities, including nearby Greenwich, Conn.
Later in the afternoon, a woman who appeared to be a resident was taken away on a stretcher.
Officials said all 27 residents inside the 15-unit apartment building are okay.
David Calvio and his wife were inside at the time.
"I feel like bad, like too hot. I feeling very warm, you know?" Calvio said. "And she said, 'Somebody's crying, like, hey everybody, get out, get out.' Then I start to run."
The shoes he was wearing were lent to him by a friend.
Mark Pauletti, the building's landlord, was thankful no tenants were seriously injured.
"As long as everyone's safe, that's all we care about," Pauletti said.
Nancy Figueroa is now without her medicine and doesn't know where she'll go after two days in a hotel arranged by the Red Cross.
"That's for two days. What happen for the rest?" Figueroa said. "I no have money."
Other residents were left wondering what's going to happen next.
"I live here 15 years," one man said. "Fifteen years, a part of my life."
"I grew up in there and to see it just burn down like this is sad, shocking, you know?" another man said. "My dad still lived there on the first floor. It's just sad."
"My friend call me and said, 'Jose, come over here. Fire! There's a fire in the building!'" another man said.
Crews demolished the building Sunday night. The investigation continues.
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