By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Five firefighters were hurt when a massive four-alarm blaze destroyed two Bronx homes early Thursday — a “punishing” fire that may have started when a mattress caught fire, FDNY officials said.
The blaze broke out in the basement of a Briggs Ave. home near E. 194th St. in Fordham just before 8 a.m., FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Timothy Keenan said.
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Firefighters first received a 911 call about a mattress on fire in the basement. As they rushed to the scene, multiple 911 calls reported heavy flames shooting out of the basement window and leaping across a small alley, setting the neighboring building on fire, Keenan said.
As the smoke eaters arrived, the fire had already spread up the exterior of both occupied wood-frame homes and into multiple floors, Keenan said.
Firefighters pulled residents out of both buildings as they unfurled hose lines and began putting water on the fire, but by then the conflagration had raged out of control.
While inside the first building, firefighters tried to keep the flames enclosed in a room by covering the entrance with a wooden door they had taken from another room, Keenan said.
But in a matter of moments, the blaze had broken through the door and had spread to adjoining rooms, he said.
“This was a very punishing operation for (us),” Keenan said, adding that the 90-degree temperatures baking the city Thursday made everything harder. “These firefighters went above and beyond today and put themselves in those precarious and dangerous positions. Today, luckily, we were able to stop the fire before it went to any more buildings.”
More than 200 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the incident. Five firefighters were injured, including two with serious injuries. The fire was brought under control just before 10 a.m.
No building residents were injured, but the two wood-frame homes were gutted, Keenan said.
FDNY fire marshals were investigating the blaze Thursday.
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