Washington Heights Apartment Fire Injures 2, FDNY Says

By Lindsay Armstrong and Gwynne Hogan | April 13, 2015 1:00pm

A fire injured two people as it tore through the fourth floor and fifth floors of a West 177th Street apartment building Monday morning, the FDNY said.

Washington Heights Fire

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A fire injured two people as it tore through the fourth and fifth floors of a West 177th Street apartment building Monday morning, the FDNY said.

The fire began in a fourth-floor apartment and spread to the apartment directly above, destroying both residences before firefighters could dampen it, fire officials at the scene said.

A call for help came in at 11:32 a.m. and 60 firefighters arrived at 655 W. 177th St. shortly after to battle the blaze, officials said.

One of the victims suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital, the FDNY said. The other had minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

Emergency workers had to rescue three residents from fire escapes and help one elderly resident from inside the building who primarily relies on a wheelchair, fire officials said.

HPD Inspector Raffaele Santorelli, 49, happened to be driving by when he saw flames from the side of the building, he explained. He slammed on the breaks and rushed into the building to help evacuate residents.

"I stared knocking on doors and telling people to get out because there was a fire,” he said. “They thought I was a crazy man at first, but then they started to see smoke fill up the hallway.”

Firefighters had the blaze under control by 12:16 p.m., officials said. There were no further details immediately available about how the fire began, and an investigation is ongoing, officials said.