A fire tore through a Bronx apartment building early Wednesday morning, killing one person and injuring 10 other people and two firefighters, according to fire officials. The blaze broke out around 7:45 a.m. at 1484 Montgomery Avenue in Morris Heights, starting on the fourth floor of the six-story building before spreading into a neighboring apartment.
The fire quickly escalated to two alarms, and more than 140 FDNY fire and EMS personnel responded to battle the flames, as reported by CBS News New York. One person was found dead at the scene. Ten other people were hurt, and two firefighters were also hurt; a 31-year-old man was in critical but stable condition, police officers said. Crews were still working to fully extinguish the flames as of Wednesday morning. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The fire began on the fourth floor of the six-story building and spread into a neighboring apartment.
A Pattern of Deadly Fires in Older Bronx Buildings
Apartment entrance doors that close and latch can help keep fire and smoke contained inside individual units rather than spilling into shared hallways and stairwells.
That containment failure has been a recurring theme in the city's fire data this year. FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Flynn said in May that citywide fire deaths had jumped more than 60% compared to the prior year, with 46 civilian fatalities recorded between January 1 and May 20, 2026, versus 28 during the same stretch in 2025, per CBS News. FDNY officials at the time pointed to unclosed interior apartment doors as a major factor in how quickly fire and toxic smoke spread through several fatal Bronx multi-family blazes earlier this year.
Morris Heights Has Seen This Before
Wednesday's fire is not the first fatal blaze to hit Morris Heights this year. In May, a two-alarm fire at 226 West Tremont Avenue killed one civilian and injured two others after flames spread into an adjoining unit of an apartment building, as Hoodline previously reported.
