Firefighters were working to contain a large blaze that broke out at an apartment building in the Bronx early Friday, injuring at least seven people and displacing many others, the Fire Department said.
Nearly two hundred firefighters and emergency medical responders rushed to the six-story residential building on Wallace Avenue after a fire was reported just before 2 a.m., the Fire Department said. The blaze on the top floor was elevated to a five-alarm fire about an hour later, it said. As of 7:30 a.m, firefighters were still at the scene.
Seven people were injured, including five firefighters, the department said in an email. One person was treated at the scene but declined transfer to a hospital.
A spokeswoman for the New York City Police Department said earlier that some people had suffered smoke inhalation injuries.
Firefighters blasted water at the smoke and flames pouring out of the building’s upper floors and roof, according to videos posted online by the Fire Department and TV news outlets. Heavy winds had fueled the blaze, the department said; the flames appeared in videos to have spread to several neighboring buildings.
The cause of the fire was still being investigated, the Police Department spokeswoman said.
The Red Cross was at the scene helping residents that were displaced by the fire, said Aries Dela Cruz, a spokesman for the New York City Emergency Management. A temporary shelter had been set up at the Bennington School on Adee Avenue.
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