Bronx Apartment Fire Kills 19, Dozens More Injured
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Ken MeyerJan 9th, 2022, 3:42 pm Twitter share button <?php // Post Body ?>
At least 19 people were killed and dozens more were injured in New York City on Sunday after a fire broke out at an apartment building in the Bronx.
Firefighters and emergency services were called to the 19 story high rise at 11:00 A.M. local time when the fire reportedly broke out on the 2nd or the 3rd floor. Nineteen people are confirmed dead — some of whom were children — and 63 people were injured, with at least 32 of them taken to hospitals with life-threatening injuries.
FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigrotold the media that many of the victims were suffering from severe smoke inhalation, and they were going into cardiac and respiratory arrest when firefighters found them. He called the situation "unprecedented" and added that "We expect there to be numerous fatalities."
New York City Mayor Eric Adamsappeared at the scene as the disaster response unfolded, saying "This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed here in modern times in the city of New York." Adams later gave a phone interview to CNN's Fredricka Whitfield, during which he confirmed the number of people dead and injured and said authorities are using a local school building as a staging area for those displaced by the fire.
"The fire marshal is currently doing a thorough investigate to determine the origin of the fire and what took place so that we can learn from it and know what we can do to prevent fires of this magnitude," Adams said. "We do know that a door was left open, and what happens in cases like that, it allows the smoke to spread in a rapid fashion. It appears as though many who were injured in this case were due smoke inhalation. It is imperative that we close the door."
Watch above, via CNN.
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Hard to imagine how so many people could be killed or injured in a fire that happened during the daytime.
I was seconds away from seeding this, but you beat me to it.
Smoke alarms?
Either not installed or not working?
This is horrible, unbelievable that it happened in daylight hours.
Hopefully, all of those injured will recover.
It's an awful tragedy. So many people gone and injured.
At least our new mayor knows what to do when something of this magnitude happens. Our last one would have been watching from the couch eating chips.
This is a terrible tragedy, hope all those injured have a full and rapid recovery.
My thoughts are also with the firefighters and other emergency service personnel, who will have had deal with this tragedy.
PSA - Please close the door to the apartment or room that is on fire, it contains the smoke and heat, and allows for firefighter to contain the fire easier, and allows other occupants additional evacuation routes from the building.
Can someone tell me why this latest tragic occurrence seems surreal to me? It's like I'm watching something in slow motion on a TV series.
It was headlines over here this morning..
So many lost souls and injured...what a rotten start to 2022...
Injuries mostly from smoke inhalation...fire not all that big or widespread.
Smoke alarms?
in all the photos i have seen of this today , i noticed one thing conspicuously missing in all of them .
outside fire escapes ....
I saw that, too. If they couldn't get out via the hallways, they only had the windows, with no fire escapes.
I can hear smoke alarms on the video.
Couple of reasons the building may not have exterior fire escapes.
1. the building was built prior to the fire escape requirements and has not been substantially remolded as to trigger a new code update.
2. The building is newer, and code does not require exterior fire escapes, if there is fire resistant corridors and sufficient exits.
There were smoke alarms going off in the video, and I have read several interviews with occupants who basically stated that they ignored the alarms, because of numerous previous false alarms in the building.
i would guess it is likely the latter , the building does look newer , but historical photos usually show buildings with them , im thinking circa 20s 30s and 40s , to be too old to have required tham and not be retrofitted ...... that would have to be one really OLD building in NYC.
I wonder-- don't all major cities require regular checks for fire safety every few years? (Existence of fire escapes on older bldgs if required,; if present a check on the actual structural safety of fire escapes; fire resistant internal stairs on newer bldgs; presence of enough smoke/CarbonMonoxide alarms; a regular check if they're working, etc?).
Did this bldg have required fire safety checks? If so was it as required by law..or was it even required by law?
Fire inspector bribed?
This should not have happened-- somewhere there was a foulup.
(I don't know what it was... but it should've been prevented, there should be a thorough investigation to prevent this sort of thing from happening again in another bldg).
Krishna, the short answer is yes and no. It is the responsibility and the liability of the owner of the building to meet building codes. The problem is that the code the building has to meet is the code that was in effect when the building was erected. If the building had extensive remodeling in excess of 50% of the value of the building then it would have to update to the current codes. The only thing that has to be inspected annually are exterior fire escapes due to exposure to the elements.
It is not unusual for buildings to go uninspected, unless there are complaints of fire code violations, like blocked or locked doors, panic hardware that is none functioning etc.
As far as fire alarms they were in place and operational. In interviews of some of the occupants of the building they explicitly stated that they just ignored them because of numerous prior false alarms.
The biggest failure in this situation was that the door to the apartment was not closed, this allows the hallway to act like a chimney carrying smoke and heat upward throughout the building and allows oxygen to freely enter the fire room and feed the fire. The fact that the door did not close would lead me to wonder if at the time of construction if self closing hardware was required by code, if so did it fail to work, or was it disable by the tenant at some time.
I think JW pretty much answered it , the one factor that codes cannot control is the human one and how they respond .
as he pointed out , alarms being ignored because of false alarms , caused by someone cooking ?
safety features disabled at one time due to whatever ? self closing doors disabled in the summer but forgotten about by the tenent in the summer to get some air flow during summer heat?
those are the human element that cant be covered by regulations and codes .
Its being said the fire was started by a space heater , and that IT malfunctioned , dont know how cold it was but if it was cold enough for its use , i would bet there was an electrical surge due to demand that the heater couldnt deal with , what im saying is there are alot of factors that all have to be looked at , and right now from whats reported , the common denominator is the human factor , not codes or equipment in place .
Of course some people like it to be warmer than others...
However if a tenant felt the need for a space heater...I wonder if toher tenants also did (but noe of their heaters malfunctioned/0.
Which raises another possible cause-- if people felt the need fora space heater-- was landlord supplying enough heat?
There are laws which require landlords to supply a certain amount of heat in winter-- I wonder if the landlord didn't do that?
(I still don't feel like its clear who was at fault-- just think of possibly relevant questions)
P.S: If the apartment door was open-- why?
Did the tenants feel apt was too warm? (If so, why the need for a space heater).
If the apartment door was open-- why?
That is the million dollar question. Was it not in compliance with codes, was it tampered with by tenants as to not close appropriately, did they panic and not shut the door when they detected the fire and fled the apartment. All questions that have probably already been answered by the Fire Marshal, and may never become public knowledge.
Even with everything considered it is a tragedy with the loss of life that occurred.
According to the occupant, however it could also have been set up too close to something flammable (paper, fabric, etc)
Started by a space heater.
Did building have Sprinklers?
and if they did-- were they in working order?