Fire tore through a three-story building in East Harlem during the early hours Monday morning leaving four firefighters and one civilian injured.
Firefighters arrived at the scene of the 2279 Third Ave. blaze shortly after 12:45 a.m. and found heavy fire and smoke billowing from the building.
More than 150 firefighters battled the fire that spread across all three floors causing the roof to partially cave in. They used two tower ladders and six hose lines to extinguish the fire.
“We’ve had a partial collapse of the roof into the top floor,” said John Esposito, FDNY chief of fire operations, at the time of the blaze. “The stairway burnt out so it makes it very dangerous for our members inside.”
The FDNY ordered all of its firefighters out of the building over safety concerns as fire consumed the building.
The fire was so intense smoke was blown into an occupied residential building next door.
The fire was brought under control at 4:15 a.m. The fire is under investigation of the FDNY Fire Marshals Unit.
