YONKERS – A four-alarm fire ripped through two Oak Street apartment buildings this morning, and flames damaged a neighboring building, displacing over 50 people, according to emergency personnel.
American Red Cross personnel said 23 families were displaced by the blaze — 27 adults and 24 children.
“Inside it was full of smoke. My eyes were burning. Everyone got out through the back door safely,” said Brayan Figueroa, 13, whose family lives on the top floor of the three-story apartment house at 42 Oak St., where the fire started.
“When I woke up I was going to leave through a back door and it was full of smoke and the walls were full of fire,” he said.
The house at 42 Oak St. is wedged in a row of similar wood-frame homes. The blaze destroyed that house, where the roof collapsed, and significantly damaged the three-story apartment house next door at 40 Oak St.
Flames caused minor damage to the three-story apartment house at 38 Oak St., and residents of 36 Oak St. were also forced from their homes.
Yonkers Fire Commissioner Robert Sweeney said firefighters were called around 5:15 a.m. about the fire at 42 Oak St., and the front of the building was ablaze when firefighters arrived.
Everyone got out, but some residents suffered non-life-threatening burns and some firefighters had minor injuries, Sweeney said. He said the cause was under investigation, and he wouldn‘t comment on whether the cause was suspicious.
“There was a large amount of fire on arrival, which is fairly unusual for this time of day, but we are looking into it,” he said.
About 80 city firefighters responded, as well as firefighters from New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Hartsdale and Greenville, Yonkers Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Fitzpatrick said.
Residents said they woke up to the fire around 4 a.m. Julie Pabellon lives nearby but came to Oak Street around 5 a.m. because her mother, who lives across the street from the fire, called her because her power went out due to the fire.
“It was Christmas,” Pabellon said of how bright the scene was with flames. “It was lit up. It was flames coming out of every place.”
Sasha Cruz lives on the third floor of 36 Oak St., and said she has lived in Yonkers for more than 15 years.
“This is the worst fire I‘ve seen in Yonkers,” she said.
Firefighters spent more than three hours dousing the flames. Oak Street was closed between Yonkers Avenue and Elm Street, near the Yonkers Avenue-Nepperhan Avenue split, as firefighters continued to work at the scene.
An emergency command center for the displaced residents was opened at Nodine Hill Community Center at 140 FIllmore St.
Carolyn Sherwin, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said around 9:30 a.m. that 21 adults and 11 children from seven families had stopped by the community center so far, and that volunteers expected more residents to seek help.
“We expect that number to increase as people know where to come,” said Mary Davis, a Red Cross volunteer, who added that about seven bilingual responders were at the community center to help.
Red Cross volunteers were working to provide the families with immediate emergency needs including shelter, food, clothing, and mental health support.
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/yonkers/2017/11/06/fire-oak-street-yonkers/835022001/