Massive Fire At Yonkers Apartment Building Leaves At Least 150 Families Displaced
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – More than 100 families were displaced when a massive fire ripped through a Yonkers apartment building overnight.
The flames broke out shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday on the upper level of a six-story building on Parkview Ave near Pondfiled Road. Officials said the fire spread to the cockloft and grew from there.
"It started at this end. As you can see, it swung all around the building and it's completely engulfed," Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said Tuesday night. "You look at the building like that, you know that building has got to be well over 75 years old. There's lots of place for fire to hide in buildings like that, and when they get started they are very stubborn, they don't want to stop."
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Firefighters spent the night battling the blaze and said the biggest challenge was a lack of good access points to get the water they needed. At least six neighboring departments responded to assist.
"Until either the ceilings collapse of the roof is totally burnt out, then we'll have general access to the fire, we could put it out in five or 10 minutes. But that's going to take some time for the fire to consumer what it's going to consume," said Yonkers Fire Commissioner Bob Sweeney.
No one was hurt, but at least 150 families were left without a place to live. The Red Cross set up a shelter at nearby Roosevelt High School.
"In the eight years that I've worked in Westchester, this is the biggest fire that I've been involved with," said Mary Davis. "At this stage, it's all about the uncertainty. The uncertainty if someone's pets are still missing or lost, the uncertainty if everything in their apartment is destroyed or damaged, the uncertainty if they're going to be able to go back and live."
Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire.