A double fire near Yankee Stadium in Highbridge last week has renewed what some first responders and locals are calling a major traffic issue in the West Bronx — one that is particularly detrimental during emergency situations.
The FDNY responded to an all-hands blaze at a two-story building at 913 Summit Ave. on Feb. 27 at around 4 p.m., where it took firefighters about an hour to put the flames out. But then the department received a second report of a basement fire at the same location around 6 p.m. that evening. The second event, a two-alarm fire, was under control by about 7:30 p.m., according to the FDNY.
In total, 12 units and 60 personnel responded to the first call, and 25 units and 106 personnel showed up later to manage the second blaze at the private dwelling, according to the FDNY. The second fire caused one minor injury to a civilian and one major injury to a firefighter, who was transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.
Agnes Johnson, a Highbridge resident who was in the area at the time of the fires on Monday, told the Bronx Times in an interview that cars were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the narrow streets in that section of the West Bronx — and that first responder vehicles couldn’t get through. She even saw people get out of their stopped cars and start walking, she said.
“There was nothing moving,” she said. “It was very, very scary.”
Johnson was on her way home in a cab on Ogden Avenue when she got stuck in standstill traffic, she said. Although she couldn’t see flames or smoke from where she was caught on the roadway, she said she could tell the jam was caused by a fire near Yankee Stadium.
“It was like Christmas, all the streets were lit up with flashing lights,” she said.
Johnson said she’s tried reaching out to the city and elected officials, but hasn’t been met with much action. After a call and then subsequent 311 report, she said the commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation…
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