Two people in the Bronx were killed Wednesday morning as a massive fire ripped through a Buddhist temple and a nearby home.
Fire Department sources said the three-alarm inferno erupted inside 2064 St. Anthony Ave. in Mount Hope just before 6 a.m. on Feb. 12.
The first arriving FDNY units encountered heavy smoke and flames but quickly began a search-and-rescue operation — crawling through the burning building to get to two victims trapped.
Both victims, however, suffered fatal injuries, according to Chief of Department John Esposito.
Several parked cars blocked the closest fire hydrant to the building, complicating firefighting efforts. This cost the FDNY valuable moments in hooking up hoses to get water on the fire, thus allowing the flames to spread further.
It was the second time in less than a week that the FDNY responded to a deadly fire in which parked vehicles were found parked near fire hydrants — the first being a blaze at a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn apartment building on Sunday morning that claimed a man’s life.
“We’ve seen that now a couple of times in the last week throughout the city,” Esposito said. “We all know that we should not be parking on fire hydrants, and when you park on fire hydrants, it slows us down. When we’re fighting a fire, seconds count.”
The blaze rapidly grew to a three-alarm event, bringing more than 150 FDNY and EMS personnel to the scene. Six hose lines were set up to extinguish the flames.
The roaring fire also led to a partial roof collapse in the rear of the Buddhist temple, endangering firefighters and prompting an emergency evacuation of both buildings. Fortunately, no injuries to firefighters were reported.
The American Red Cross and Office of Emergency Management provided relief to displaced residents, the Fire Department said.
FDNY marshals are investigating the exact cause of the deadly blaze.
