A five-alarm fire erupted early Sunday in a Mount Vernon, New York apartment building, displacing scores of residents and injuring five firefighters. Officials believe the blaze began in a seventh-floor kitchen before spreading to the cockloft, a space between the ceiling and roof, complicating containment efforts, as reported by CBS News.
Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, addressing the crisis, said, "This is an old age style pre-war building, and there are no standpipes. So, of course, that makes it a little more difficult," while firefighters deployed multiple ladders and hoses to quell the flames which despite their efforts jumped and spread through the area, this, just days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. "Blazing fire, blazing, blazing was just going and going and going," resident Eileen Charles Forteau told CBS News, recounting the terrifying scene that unfolded before her eyes.
The incident left roughly 120 residents without a home, prompting swift action from the Red Cross and local officials who have made arrangements for temporary housing and aid, "Families that have been impacted are being serviced over at the Doles Center here in Mount Vernon so that they can get some warmth, some beverage, fill out the paperwork that is necessary, so that we can begin getting them housing vouchers and food vouchers and assistance," Mayor Patterson-Howard stated. In the face of disaster, the community is pulling together with donations and shelter provisions at Holmes School and the Knowles Center in Mount Vernon, as per CBS News.
Longtime resident Andrea, who lived just doors down from where the fire was reported to have started, told ABC7NY, "I felt like this is déjà vu, what is happening and what happened. I'm in a daze, I don't believe this is happening again," reflecting on the harrowing ordeal she's enduring for the second time. Erick Espinal, another resident, recalls his frantic actions upon seeing the fire: "I got my kids, I got my parents, and then we started at least screaming towards the building like 'fire, fire, everybody get out," bearing witness to the chaos and urgent pleas for safety while the local councilmember laments the heartbreaking timing of this event ahead of a family-centric holiday.
As investigations continue into the cause of the fire, the displaced Mount Vernon residents face uncertainty, yet they find a glimmer of hope in the support extended by fellow community members. With about 150 people registering with the Red Cross for assistance, according to ABC7NY.
