Photo: Scott Heins/Getty
New York City officials have revised the death toll of thedevastating firethat broke out in the Bronx on Sunday morning.
“We said this yesterday and we will continue to say, this is an unspeakable tragedy,” he remarked.
FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro explained that “there was a bit of a double count” as patients were taken to seven different hospitals on Sunday. However, he cautioned that the number of fatalities could still “unfortunately increase,” as “there are many people fighting for their lives in the hospital.”
As the investigation into the fire continues, authorities said on Monday they are “certain the fire started with a faulty electrical heater” and was “accidental” in nature.
On Sunday morning, first responders arrived within three minutes of receiving a call about a fire that had engulfed a 19-story high rise in the Bronx, according to New York City officials.
“This fire began in an apartment that spans two floors, on the second and third floors of the building,” the FDNY commissioner said in a press conference over the weekend.
Scott Heins/Getty
During the press conference on Monday, N.Y.C. officials said the door to the apartment where the fire broke out, as well as another door on the 15th floor, were “not functioning” as they should, reported WABC. Percity law, self-closing doors are required to be installed in all apartment buildings with three or more apartments.
“The door when it was fully open stayed fully open because it malfunctioned,” explained Nigro.
The FDNY commissioner said the investigation would also look into “some stories that the [fire] alarm system went off regularly,” noting that smoke alarms were sounding in the apartment at the time of the fire.
Officials were also asked about reports that residents had made a number of complaints about not having adequate heat in the building. (Records from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development show four previous complaints about the heat from February through December 2021, perBloomberg.)
Adams said that to their knowledge, there were “no outstanding” complaints, but that the investigation would examine that as well.
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“We are cooperating fully with the Fire Department and other city agencies as they investigate its cause, and we are doing all we can to assist our residents,” the rep continued. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured, and we are here to support them as we recover from this horrific fire.”
Several residents of the apartment complex spoke withThe New York Timesabout the chaos and terror they experienced after the fire broke out.
“It happened so quick,” Cristal Diaz, who was spending time with her family in her apartment on the 15th floor, told the newspaper.
“It was devastating,” added Rodriguez. “My neighbors, they’re like family to me.”
“This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed in modern times here in the City of New York,” Mayor Adams said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
“We are going to do everything we can to bring services on the ground here to give them the assistance they need as we all recover from the trauma of what we are witnessing here in the buildings behind us,” Adams said.
The American Red Cross has stepped in to help assist victims of the fire, city officials confirmed. Those interested in donating can do sohere.
source: people.com
