3 Forced To Jump From Burning Building After 3-Alarm Fire Breaks Out In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The cause remained under investigation Wednesday afternoon for a raging fire that forced three people to jump from a Bronx apartment building.
The fire began at a home along Decatur Avenue in Norwood around 7:30 a.m. and quickly went to a third alarm.
As CBS 2's Don Champion reported, cellphone video showed flames leaping into the air and tearing apart the Bronx home.
"The smoke was billowing out, the flames were shooting up sky-high," said neighbor Wayne Hopkins. "It was a lot."
Hopkins spotted the flames when the fire broke out and jumped into action. He was among two neighbors who went into the burning building looking for people.
"It was dark, no one was answering," he said. "We were yelling and screaming, 'anybody home, anybody' and didn't get any answer and then we came out."
3 Forced To Jump From Burning Building In The Bronx
When he came back outside, three people were on the upper floors in the process of jumping, including a woman who was screaming for help.
"I was just scared for the people in the house," said neighbor Donald Jackson. "When I heard the lady screaming, it was really getting to me and my emotions because being trapped in a burning house is scary."
One of the people forced to jump said he opened his bedroom door and saw nothing but thick, black smoke.
"There was no way for me to get out," he told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria. "So basically I climbed out of the window and I just held on to the windowsill and I just slid down. It was a life of death situation. I couldn't waste time to think about it, I had to act quickly."
Three people were taken to the hospital with head, leg and ankle injuries.
Meanwhile, firefighters tried to stop the fire from spreading, but by the time the flames were under control, it had spread to two neighboring buildings. In all, 33 units and 138 firefighters responded to the scene.
Investigators believe the fire may have started on the first floor of the home. There was no word late Wednesday afternoon on the cause.
The American Red Cross in Greater New York said it is assisting three families displaced by the blaze.
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