A fast-moving second-floor blaze tore through a Bainbridge Avenue apartment building in Fordham on Monday afternoon, sending thick black smoke over the neighborhood and landing five people in the hospital, three of them fighting for their lives. Neighbors captured video of firefighters racing up ladders and crowding the fire escape as crews battled heavy smoke and flames. Emergency responders stayed on scene for hours while hospitals treated the injured.
What Officials Are Saying
The FDNY said three people are “fighting for their lives” and two others were hurt after firefighters responded to a second-floor fire at 2609 Bainbridge Ave just before 3:30 p.m., according to News 12 New York. EMS took all five victims to nearby hospitals. The outlet reports that one person suffered serious injuries while another was treated for minor injuries.
Footage from the Citizen app shared with reporters shows heavy black smoke billowing from the roof as firefighters work their way inside using the building’s fire escape.
Borough Context
The fire comes amid a run of apartment blazes in the Bronx this spring and follows an April inferno that prompted the FDNY to release a public service announcement urging residents to “close the door” to keep smoke and flames from racing through hallways, according to the department. FDNY said investigators in that earlier case found multiple doors left open, which allowed the fire to spread.
Earlier this year, a March fire in Kingsbridge sent more than a dozen people, many of them children, to local hospitals, according to NY1.
Building History And Investigation
Property and tenant-record databases list 2609 Bainbridge Ave as a five-story, 11-unit New Law tenement with a history of housing complaints and 311 calls, according to a building report from Augrented.
Fire officials say the cause of Monday’s blaze remains under investigation and that crews were still working at the scene as reporters filed updates, according to News 12 New York. FDNY Fire Marshals are expected to lead the origin probe, while housing inspectors may review the building’s records as part of follow-up work.
This story will be updated as officials release more information about the victims and what sparked the fire.
