The New York Sun
NEW YORK — A three-alarm fire on the Upper East Side that left two firefighters seriously injured early yesterday morning is eliciting outrage among elected officials and residents who say the building's fire alarms were not functioning.
The fire started at about 5 a.m. inside State News, a store on the first floor of the Wellesley building at 200 E. 72nd St., and burned for another two hours, fire department officials said. The two injured firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, and 17 other firefighters and 14 civilians sustained minor injuries.
The president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer, and the City Council member who represents the neighborhood, Daniel Garodnick, expressed serious concern after residents in the 34-story building said the fire alarms did not go off and that the evacuation led to mass confusion.
Residents said fire alarms in the Wellesley had been an ongoing problem, with complaints including multiple false alarms, and they said that the building's management, the Carlyle Construction Corporation, had posted notices that repairs would begin on January 25 and last for 2 1/2 months. Residents were advised to call 911 if there was an emergency.
The Wellesley is a fireproof building, and residents should have stayed inside their apartments and waited for firefighters, a fire department official said.
But many residents yesterday evacuated the building when they realized there was a fire.
"There was a failure of communication between the building management and the residents regarding safety measures," Mr. Garodnick said.
Residential buildings in the city are not required to have a fire alarm system; however, if a building installs an alarm system, it is required to maintain it at all times.
While smoke from the fire reached residences in the Wellesley, the fire was contained within the first-floor retail space, a fire department official said.
A representative of the Carlyle Construction Corporation declined to comment.
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