NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Fifteen people were injured Tuesday morning in a fire at an apartment building in Upper Manhattan, the FDNY said as a resident told 1010 WINS an electrical box in his unit "blew up."
The fire broke out on the first floor of a six-story building at 570 West 204th St. in Inwood shortly before 8:25 a.m., according to fire officials.
The injured included 14 civilians and one firefighter. Ten of them were transported to area hospitals, while the other five were treated at the scene.
The patients' conditions weren’t immediately known, officials said.
Citizen App video shows flames and smoke pouring out of the building as dozens of firefighters work the scene. At least one firefighter could be seen carrying a child down a fire escape.
More than 100 firefighters and EMS responded, and the fire was brought under control by 10 a.m., the FDNY said.
The fire marshal is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.
Leonard Rzepnicki said the fire started in an old electrical box near his bed. He first noticed sparks flying out from behind his bedstand.
“I pulled the bedstand out and pow! It blew up,” he said.
Before he knew it, flames were shooting out of his closet towards the ceiling.
“I look towards the closet, towards the back, right? There was a fire in there. I mean a fire, man, in the closet,” Rzepnicki said.
Despite being in a wheelchair with one leg, he managed to yell down the hall and alert his neighbors to the fire.
“It was so hot,” he recalled. “It was very hot and smoky, I had to get down.”
He lost his apartment in the fire but said he’s okay.
“I was in Vietnam, okay, so I’ve got no feelings,” he said. “I’m not worried. God is with me.”