2017 Bronx fire disaster

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On December 28, 2017, a fire in the Bronx killed twelve people, including three children, in the four-story residential building at 2363 Prospect Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood, not far from the Bronx Zoo . Six other people were injured in the 26-unit building, four of them seriously. One of the seriously injured people died a week later.

Not including the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , it was the damaging fire in the city ​​of New York with the highest number of fatalities since the fire of the Happy Land social club in the Bronx in 1990. At that time they were used illegally as a meeting place after arson Premises 87 people died. In March 2007, a residential fire in the Bronx killed 10 people, including 9 children.

Course of events

The fire was started shortly before 7 p.m. by a three-year-old who had been playing with the controls on the gas stove in the parents' kitchen at the back of the building. The tenant had to escape with her two children, the final door of their ground floor apartment open back, instead of closing them again and thus to slow the spread of smoke and flames as possible into the stairwell. The fire, fanned by the chimney effect and strong winds at temperatures down to minus 10 ° C, blocked the escape route for residents on the upper floors and affected other apartments.

The incoming forces of the New York fire department were confronted with a fire on several floors that was unusually advanced for the early evening hours. Around fifteen to twenty people had taken refuge on the outside escape routes and fire stairs , and again the same number on a balcony. Five of the deceased were ultimately found in the building.

Investigations showed that the building erected in 1916 did not comply with the legally prescribed fire protection regulations. According to documents, a smoke detector was missing on the ground floor at an earlier point in time. Mayor Bill de Blasio, however, told the radio station WNYC that it did not appear that "there was anything problematic about the building or the structural fire protection". Apartment buildings in the city of New York must be equipped with self-closing apartment doors.

Mission sequence

The first emergency call came in at 6:51 p.m., followed by more calls to report trapped people, including a baby on the second floor.

Around 6:55 p.m., three minutes after the emergency call, the first fire brigade units arrived at the scene. The hydrant near the building was frozen, so that only water from the tank of the first fire engine was available for a short time. The head of operations asked for more units. The first attack force found three victims on the way to the stairwell.

For the ongoing rescue of people, patient care and fire fighting, the operations management subsequently raised the alert level to third alarm until 7:07 p.m. In the New York fire brigade, each alert level generally brings around 30 firefighters to the scene, supplemented by other units and management functions.

At 7:31 p.m. the rescue service had to treat 14 injured people, 12 of them in the red sighting category .

At 7:37 p.m. it was raised to the fourth alarm. As a result, a total of 160 firefighters were on duty.

At 8:45 p.m., the operations management classified the fire as under control (probably will hold) .

At 9:04 p.m., the emergency services were aware of 4 patients in the red sighting category, 1 in yellow and 2 in green, plus 12 in the black category.

At around 9:10 p.m., the Wehrführer, as head of operations, declared the fire to be under control . In view of the icy winter weather, he raised the alarm to fifth to relieve exhausted forces.

In the night at 3:30 a.m., units were still in action at the fire ruin.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Self-closing doors mandatory in fire building. In: apnews.com. The Associated Press, December 30, 2017, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  2. ^ A b Funeral held for 5 family members killed in NYC fire. In: apnews.com. The Associated Press, January 9, 2018, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Maggie Astor, Ashley Southall: Bronx Fire, City's Deadliest in Decades, Kills at Least 12 and Injures More . In: The New York Times . December 28, 2017, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed January 1, 2018]).
  4. ↑ a b c Benjamin Mueller, Liz Robbins, Annie Correal: A Boy's Scream, a Door Ajar and 12 Dead in a Bronx Fire. In: The New York Times. December 29, 2017, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Mom whose dead started deadly Bronx fire sues for $ 1B from stove maker, city. In: New York Post. January 12, 2019, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  6. ^ New York: Child caused house fire in the Bronx . In: The time . December 29, 2017, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed January 1, 2018]).
  7. ↑ a b c Kevin Fasick, Laura Italiano: FDNY chiefs recall first moments at deadly Bronx fire. December 30, 2017, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Abigail Hauslohner, Eli Rosenberg, Vera Haller: Child playing with stove started New York City's deadliest fire in over 25 years, officials say . In: Washington Post . December 29, 2017, ISSN  0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed January 1, 2018]).
  9. ↑ a b Bronx NYC fire 'caused by child playing'. BBC, December 29, 2017, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  10. ↑ 12/28/17 Bronx 5th Alarm Box 3303. In: NYCFire.net. December 28, 2017, accessed February 1, 1019 .
  11. ↑ FDNY Bronx Dispatch Scanner Audio Deadly 5th alarm fire in the Bronx kills over 10. ScannerAudio, December 28, 2018, accessed February 1, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Frank Raffa: FDNY Dispatch Policy. In: FDNewYork.com. Accessed February 1, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Over 160 #FDNY members are operating on scene of a 4-alarm fire, 2363 Prospect Ave #Bronx. December 28, 2017, accessed February 1, 2019 .