At Least 19 Dead After Massive Fire In NYC Apartment Building

The door to the apartment where the fire started was left open, allowing the blaze to spread throughout the building and upward to other floors.“This is going to be one of the worst fires that we have witnessed during modern times here in the city of New York,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, adding that several firefighters continued working to get as many people out of the building as possible despite running out of oxygen in their air tanks.Adams added the importance of having faith-based leaders to support residents and victims’ families, specifying that the building had a large Muslim population.“Sheikh Musa is here and knows many of the residents that came from Gambia, and we want to make sure that we’re sensitive to the cultural needs. The smoke spread throughout the building, thus the tremendous loss of life and other people fighting for their lives right now in hospitals all over the Bronx,” Nigro said.“So we are investigating where everyone was found, how the smoke traveled – but certainly the marshals have determined through physical evidence and through firsthand accounts by the residents that this fire started in a bedroom, in a portable electric heater.”The fire commissioner confirmed that the heat in the building was working and that the space heater was being used to supplement the already existing heat. The commissioner said he could not confirm the reports, but that investigators are looking into the issue.As of 2018, the New York City fire code includes that all apartment buildings include self-closing doors by 2021, a safety measure that would help contain a fire within the unit and keep smoke and flames away from other residents.