Month: January 2022

A devastating five-alarm fire broke out in an apartment building in the Fordham Heights neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City on Sunday, killing at least 19 people, including nine children.  More than 200 firefighters with the Fire Department of New York battled the blaze, which was first reported around 11 a.m. in the 19-floor building.

Officials described as one of the worst fires in decades.  NYC Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference: “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city. This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed during modern times in the city of New York.”  According to data by the National Fire Protection Association, the 19 deaths makes the blaze the third deadliest apartment fire in the United States.

NYC Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro confirmed that the fire may have been sparked by a faulty electric space heater, stating the blaze began in an apartment spanning the building’s second and third floors.  Said Nigro: “The fire consumed that apartment that is on two floors and part of the hallway. The door to that apartment, unfortunately, when the residents left was left open it did not close by itself. The smoke spread throughout the building, thus the tremendous loss of life and other people fighting for their lives at hospitals throughout the Bronx.”

Fire officials said 63 people were deemed to have suffered injuries so far, with at least 32 of them taken to area hospitals. Officials have not released the names of any of the victims. In a press conference Sunday evening, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state would establish a victim’s compensation fund for those impacted by the fire.  Said Hochul: “We are indeed a city in shock. It’s impossible to go into that room, where scores of families, who are in such grief, who are in pain, to see in a mother’s eyes as I held her, who lost her entire family … it’s hard to fathom what they are going through.”

Editorial credit: emin kuliyev / Shutterstock.com

Authorities confirmed that least 27 people were rescued from a large chunk of floating ice in Green Bay, Wisc.  The Brown County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on Facebook that deputies worked with firefighters, Department of Natural Resources officials and the Coast Guard to safely remove the people from the ice off the shore of Point Comfort in Green Bay on Saturday.  Luckily, no one was injured in the incident.

In a statement, the Sheriff’s office said: “The Brown County Sheriff’s Office airboat and the U.S. Coast Guard’s airboat out of Sturgeon Bay were great assets during this rescue. Their ability to carry up to eight additional passengers aside from rescue personnel and ability to traverse ice and water terrain greatly cut down on the amount of time and risk this rescue took.”

The sheriff’s office received reports of broken ice around 10:17 a.m. as the ice floated about three-quarters of a mile during the rescue, settling about a mile away from the shoreline once the operation was completed. While the ice remained in “fairly stable condition”, it was “deteriorating rapidly” and cracking as water crashed against the edges.  According to authorities: “Barge traffic yesterday appears to have weakened the ice along the east shore of the Bay, therefore, the ice should be avoided for all recreational use.”  

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/27-people-rescued-off-floating-ice-chunk-wisconsin-82164186

Editorial credit: Mark Baldwin / Shutterstock.com