NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Firefighters carried out a dramatic rescue operation and battled a three-alarm fire that engulfed the 20th floor of Midtown East building on Saturday morning.
The fire broke out at a building on East 52nd Street near First Avenue around 10:30 a.m., trapping 23 residents, according to the FDNY.
Thirty-eight people were injured in the fire, two critically, authorities said.
Firefighters rescued a woman hanging from a fifteenth-story window and ordered others to shelter in place until fire units could sweep the building.
Officials said lithium batteries started the blaze. Hazmat crews were spotted on the scene.
It took 140 fire and medical personnel across 33 units to get the situation under control. The FDNY tweeted the all-clear at 11:34 a.m.
“Our units were on scene In just over three minutes and were confronted with a heavy fire condition on the 20th floor," FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb said at a press conference. "Our members did an amazing job, we saw the life saving rope rescue, that is a last resort in the FDNY, we were able to rescue two civilians from the fire apartment. What we saw today was our training, our teamwork and our absolute dedication from the units that operated up there with the life saving rope and then passing them off to our exceptionally trained EMS members to get these patients off the scene and to local hospitals in a matter of minutes.”
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