DNAinfo – November 11, 2014
by Sybile Penhirin and Aidan Gardiner
CENTRAL HARLEM — A fire broke out in a Harlem building Monday morning, damaging about 10 apartments as more than 100 firefighters battled the blaze, officials said.
Flames erupted about 9 a.m. in the ground-floor laundry room of 26 W. 129th St., near Madison Avenue, officials and witnesses said. The fire climbed up a shaft to the roof, where it sent a column of smoke skyward.
“It smelled like burned plastic at first. Then the fire alarm started and a few minutes after the firefighters arrived,” said fourth-floor tenant Jose Hernandez.
Lenworth Scott, 51, a photographer and fourth-floor tenant, said that he was ironing his pants at the time.
“Next thing I know there’s a bang on the door and firefighters telling me there’s a fire in the building and I need to get out,” he said.
About 106 firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 10:10 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.
Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries at New York Hospital, the spokesman said.
About 10 of the 18 apartments in the building were damaged by the flames or the water used to extinguish them, according to Jose Lopez of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.
The Red Cross was on scene to offer emergency housing to those who need it, officials said.
Building management was on the scene after the fire, but declined to comment.
Investigators were still trying to determine what sparked the blaze, officials said.
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