A five-alarm wildfire left more than 200 people homeless early Saturday morning as flames engulfed a sixth-floor apartment building at 617 West 141st Street in Harlem.
Hilda Izaguirre, a resident of the building, tells us about the scary moments she experienced:
“I was sleeping and my cat opened the door for me scared. That’s when I woke up because the cat entered my room.”
According to the fire brigade, the fire broke out at about 1:30 on the top floor, in a space between the roof of the building and that of one of the residences.
According to this tenant, the fire brigade was first called when they noticed smoke coming from a light bulb in apartment 62.
They came, checked, found “nothing wrong” and left. But 40 minutes later they had to turn back, at which point they could no longer control the flames.
“It spread quickly because of the breeze, because it started here in front, in this one in front, and it ended up there until the end. There were about five or six apartments,” Evelyn Cabrera Reyes, a resident of the building, tells us.
He had his house downstairs from where it all happened. She says she knows the family from apartment 62. They are on vacation in the Dominican Republic but have left their son and wife at home with a baby. Luckily they escaped unharmed.
“No, I haven’t seen the mother. Yes to him. She took me to the spot. I could see where the fire was coming from, which was from the light bulb in the bathroom,” adds Cabrera.
The vast majority of those affected are Hispanic families. They complain that the smoke detectors didn’t work. They claim that they have been telling the building owner for some time, but presumably their requests have not been granted.
This is how Hilda Izaguirre, another neighbor of the damaged property tells us:
“We are fighting because the owner of the building hasn’t fixed the construction. We have a lot complaints, complaintsnot now but a few years ago”.
While some were able to take refuge in the homes of relatives or friends, others were taken to a public school to be assisted by the Red Cross. 37 families and a total of 109 people.
Isabel De La Cruz was one of the hardest hit by the fire:
I am one of those affected. My apartment burned down in ’67 Everything, everything, everything. Christmas presents too, everything.
The Department of Construction has examined the structure, and one by one they have given five minutes to search for medicines and important documents, but for now they will not be able to return to their homes.
Firefighters report that seven residents of the building and two firefighters suffered minor injuries in the crash. The cause is under investigation
