Wednesday, April 21, 2021, Upper East Side – Firefighters responded to a fire that broke out in the Upper East Side within a residential building on 2nd avenue and 82nd street. The fire started early morning at 8:31 am.
The FDNY took precautionary measures to enter the apartment which had been blocked off by burning debris and wreckage. The second-story apartment building had been engulfed in flames, eventually, the fire made its way up to the third floor via the second floor’s window.
Below the apartment was a relatively new business “Fresh Bites & Juice Bar” which had taken minor damage from the fire. The owner Abdul Ahmed and his family were unharmed by the fire and evacuated appropriately.
The Fire Department and EMS team had worked to pull out two residents from the second and fourth floor of the apartment. The safety personnel managed to grab an 83-year-old male as well as an 81-year-old male. The two were rushed to NYC Health & Hospitals, located in Lenox Hill, where the 83-year-old male was pronounced deceased. The 81-year-old man was left with critical injuries.
The FDNY Chief, Nicholas Corrado has stated “it was very difficult for my members…as you can see there was a lot of debris on the streets.” The fire department’s units had trouble operating around the debris due to the second-floor resident’s hoarding nature.
The FDNY Fire Marshal is still determining the cause of the fire and an investigation is underway. The identities of the two older victims are yet to be disclosed to the public by the family members.
Video by Daniel Valls (FNTV freedomnews.tv)
