Bronx Apartment Building Fire Leaves 1 Dead, 3 Injured
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One man was killed and three other people were rushed to the hospital with minor injuries after a fire broke out early Sunday morning at a Bronx apartment complex, authorities said.
The blaze started around 2:30 a.m. at East 230th Street near White Plains Road in the Wakefield neighborhood, CBS2's Ilana Gold.
Photos from the scene show tenants carrying some belongings and standing on their fire escapes at 2:30 a.m.
Firefighters say the flames were centralized to a third-floor unit.
Police say James Turtein, 36, was having a heart attack when he was found by firefighters. Emergency Medical Services transported him to Montefiore Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A family who lived just a few doors down from the victim told Gold the man had just returned home Saturday after spending about a week in the hospital. Turtein was in a wheelchair and had limited mobility, they said.
The family said they could hear him yelling for help. They also said his teenage relative was in the apartment when the fire started and managed to escape.
They said the smoke on the third floor was smothering and that they could barely see.
"I saw smoke," a woman said. "It was very dark. ... And I woke up my son, and I grabbed all the necessary stuff."
"My mom woke me up, and we ran to the kitchen window, where the fire escape was at, and went straight down the fire escape," the woman's son said. "I threw my little sister on my back and took her down the fire escape."
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire marshal does not believe the cause of the fire is suspicious.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
