Fire Kills Three, Critically Injures Five in Inwood

A deadly early morning fire broke out in an apartment building in Inwood May 4, killing three people and sending five others to the hospital in critical condition.

Numerous other firefighters and civilians experienced less serious injuries, with eight apartments destroyed and around 100 people displaced. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The three-alarm blaze at 207 Dyckman St. broke out not long after 12:30 a.m., FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said at a press conference near the building. A total of 192 firefighters and EMS units responded to the fire which quickly went to three alarms before it was brought under control around 3 a.m.

Bonsignore noted that the first firefighting company that arrived at the six-story “non-fireproofed” building—around three minutes after receiving the call—witnessed “multiple” people trying to flee the building via the building’s front and back fire escapes. Firefighters reportedly helped these fleeing residents get to the ground.

FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said that arriving firefighters first encountered the blaze on the first floor, in the public hall. It was “rapidly extending up the stairs,” Esposito added, which happened to be the only stairway in the building.

The fire quickly reached the bulkhead on the roof, Esposito said, calling the task of putting it out an “extremely dangerous and difficult” operation. It involved stretching hose lines up the building’s two fire escapes, at the same time that these structures were being used to rescue people trying to evacuate the burning building.

“We would ask for everybody’s prayers for those affected,” Esposito concluded.

Assistant Chief of EMS Operations Cesar Escobar said that EMS treated a total of 14 patients, including one firefighter, who was in stable condition.

Bonsignore also revealed that doors had been left open during the outbreak of the fire, supercharging its power and reach.

“The one thing...that is critical and super important for us to all remember, especially in a time of crisis, is to close the door and leave the door closed,” she said. “In this building, the apartments that had their doors closed had very little impact, no fire. The apartments that had their doors opened had more impact, more fire.”

“I know it’s a scary situation in a fire, we’re not always thinking straight,” she added. “But close the door. Make sure all of your family members know to do the same.”

ABC7 reported that a resident of the building, Juan Carlos Murraya Ceveda, appeared “visibly traumatized” while describing how he had heard cries of children trapped in the blaze.

Cevada also reportedly encountered a woman, who he said was on fire, on the fire escape outside of his window; he said that he used his jacket to stamp out the flames, before trying to find the woman’s missing father inside the building, to no avail.

The names of the deceased were not released at presstime, pending notification of next of kin.