Fire Sweeps Through Multiple Bronx Homes; 9 Injured
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An extra-alarm fire spread through multiple residential structures Thursday afternoon in the Parkchester section of the Bronx.
Eight firefighters and one civilian were injured, and six buildings were severely damaged -- some to the point of being unrecogizable.
The fire broke out around 3:40 p.m. in one home at 1136 Olmstead Ave., and spread to five more 2 1/2-story homes, according to the FDNY. The blaze was raised to four alarms.
Orange flames pierced the afternoon sky and thick black smoke was seen billowing over the neighborhood, CBS2's Valerie Castro reported. Neighbors were seen watching the blaze from a nearby roof.
One firefighter was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in serious condition, officials said. Further information on the other injuries was not immediately available.
CBS2's Jessica Moore met one woman who lost her house in the fire, but she was too distraught to speak.
Another man said his home was also destroyed.
"I'm looking at my room right now and it's just looking like it's gone – everything. I'm sorry, I'm a little bit -- I've got nothing to say," said Michael DeJesus.
DeJesus said he was inside his house with his brother and mother when the fire started next door.
"When I got out, it was actually on my balcony getting in through the window," he said. "It was getting towards my mom's room and then it just got in."
With no time to grab valuables, residents got out with just the clothes on their backs.
"I'm grateful that I'm alive. Don't get me wrong. Me and mom, my little brother Christian – we're glad we got out," DeJesus said. "But to see this happen."
Firefighters said they were lucky, considering what the homes are made of.
"They're wood-frame buildings, so that the fire spreads very rapidly on the outside and inside. There were cars on fire in the back, very heavy fire conditions, unstable buildings -- these buildings can collapse very quickly," said FDNY Chief James Leonard.
Other neighbors had some ideas of what might have caused the fire.
"They told me that there was fireworks, and then the firework went in the house, and then everything just like blew up," said Jason Mejia.
"Every past couple nights, there's been like fireworks going off, so that's what everybody thinks it is, because everybody knows that they put fireworks and everything, so we think that the fireworks went off," said Isaiah DeJesus, "and I heard they were sleeping, so one of my friends went inside and saved most of them. They like woke them up."
Fire investigators has not confirmed whether fireworks played a role in the blaze.
Firefighters late Thursday were working to ensure no hot spots reigninted. Meanwhile, the American Red Cross Greater New York was on the scene to help those who were displaced by the blaze.
At least five families were left homeless.