NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Twenty-one firefighters were injured as they battled an apartment building fire in Harlem amid bitterly cold temperatures on Saturday morning.
The fire erupted around 7:30 a.m. on W. 115th Street, near Morningside Park, on one of the coldest days of the winter so far.
Thirty-nine units and 168 members responded to the fire. It was brought under control shortly after 10 a.m.
Smoke and flames poured out of the first floor of the building, Citizen App video shows. The fire eventually went to four alarms as it spread to an additional floor.
Seventeen Firefighters Injured in Battle Against Four-Alarm Fire @CitizenApp
357 W 115th St 7:37:53 AM EST
"These types of buildings, they're old tenement buildings, and the fire quickly spread to the floors and the walls, so we had our hands full," FDNY Chief of Fire Operations Tom Richardson said.
Geraldine said she was in her fourth-floor apartment and managed to get out safely.
"I just came from work, and we smelled smoke. So when we smelled smoke, we just opened the door and the smoke bombarded us back in. But we just put on our clothes and we just went outside," she said. "We had to feel our way down because we couldn't see."
Seventeen Firefighters Injured in Battle Against Four-Alarm Fire @CitizenApp
357 W 115th St 7:37:53 AM EST
None of the people who live in the building were hurt, but 21 firefighters suffered injuries not uncommon when battling a blaze in icy conditions, according to fire officials. They were taken to area hospitals.
Seventeen of the firefighters suffered minor injuries, while four others had more serious, non-life-threatening injuries. All were in stable condition.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. It's not known how many people were displaced.
