A fire at an apartment complex in Marble Hill, Manhattan on Monday injured 10 people, four residents and six firefighters, officials said.


What You Need To Know

  • Officials said the fire at an apartment complex in Marble Hill appears to have started underneath the stairs of the first floor around 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon

  • The Red Cross was on hand to help the more than 30 people who were displaced

  • The damage prompted the FDNY to initially have the building vacated due to the damage to the stairs and structure until the Department of Buildings made its evaluation

“It had shot from one floor to the next like wildfire,” said witness Gina Christoforatos.

According to officials, the fire appears to have started underneath the stairs of the first floor around 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon.

“It came so quickly that nobody could really do anything,” said neighbor Juanita Sanders.

The fire spread to all four levels of the building, and at one point, flames could be seen shooting out of the roof.

The Red Cross was on hand to help the more than 30 people who were displaced, like Daurys Feliz.

“When we tried to come out through the front door, we couldn’t get out, so we tried to open the back and we couldn’t open it. So somehow, I don’t know how, we opened it. So, we managed to get out,” Feliz said.

Neighbors and those nearby jumped in to help residents get out of the building and to safety.

Where the fire started initially prompted officials to call it “suspicious.”

“Any time we cannot immediately determine it, we’ll make it suspicious. That way, the marshals will come and do an investigation,” said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Special Operations Malcolm Moore.

The FDNY does not believe the fire to be a lithium-ion battery-related.

“We didn’t find any batteries. We did find bikes, we removed the bikes. So it appears that the bikes were being stored there,” Moore said.

The damage prompted the FDNY to initially have the building vacated due to the damage to the stairs and structure until the Department of Buildings made its evaluation.