Two victims were killed by a raging fire inside their Bronx apartment early Wednesday, with other residents alerted to the blaze by young neighbors who banged on their doors in the darkness.
A man and a woman died in the 5:30 a.m. blaze, with both victims badly burned as smoke filled the hallways outside their fifth-floor apartment where the fire began, said police and firefighters.
“Dark black, instantly,” said resident Antonia, who teamed with her half-sister Alexis in the rescue effort. “It was blazing. It spread really quickly. You could see the ash falling.”
Police initially believed the two badly burned and unidentified victims were women before discovering one was a man, with the cause of the deadly blaze under investigation by fire marshals.
“We started knocking on everyone’s doors so they could get out,” recounted resident Alexis, 22, about the pair’s efforts to rouse their sleeping neighbors after awakening to the sound of screams.
“I was just trying to make sure people were aware of the situation and that I can get out safely, along with my sister,” she continued. “We had a fire here three years ago. I was alert, always alert.”
A third resident and five firefighters were injured after the massive blaze erupted on E. 242nd St. near Barnes Ave. in Wakefield at about 5:30 a.m., FDNY officials said.
The Red Cross said approximately 60 units in the building were affected by the fire.
“They’re heroes,” said the two rescuers’ 42-year-old aunt. “They’re like that, though. They’re selfless.”
The blaze quickly reached the cockloft — the space between the top floor’s ceiling and the building’s roof — and spread across the upper level of the five-story building, said FDNY Deputy Chief Brian Cordasco.
“First arriving units found a heavy body of fire on the top floor,” Cordasco said. “The fire went into the cockloft, started in the middle [of the structure] and then went to the right side.”
More than 130 firefighters…
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