By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- An 80-year-old man died in an early Monday fire in a third-floor apartment in a six-story building on Riverside Drive near West 144th Street in Hamilton Heights, FDNY officials said.
- The fire broke out just before 1:30 a.m., and the apartment was packed with debris, according to the New York Daily News.
- The building’s superintendent said the man got his wife to safety before going back into the apartment.
- A 52-year-old woman was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia in stable condition, and a third person in the building and two firefighters had minor injuries.
- The fire was brought under control at 5:12 a.m., and the cause has not been determined.
NEW YORK — An 80-year-old man died in a fire early Monday in a heavily cluttered apartment in Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights neighborhood, according to FDNY officials and the New York Daily News.
The fire broke out just before 1:30 a.m. in a third-floor apartment in a six-story building on Riverside Drive near West 144th Street. The man was found dead inside the apartment, which was packed with debris. His name was not immediately released.
Building superintendent William Turcios said the man got his wife out of the apartment before going back inside. “He made his way back into the apartment to try and put the fire out,” Turcios said. He described the man as a retired welder and longtime resident who loved to make music.
Medics took a 52-year-old woman to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia, where she was in stable condition. A third person in the building suffered minor injuries, as did two responding firefighters. Resident Kahn-Tanaz Hightower, 23, said his bedroom filled with smoke as the building’s alarms sounded, and he and others had to use the fire escape because the stairs were filled with black smoke.
The fire was brought under control at 5:12 a.m. The cause has not yet been determined.