The injuries to 24 people, including four firefighters, hurt in an West Side high-rise apartment building are not thought to be life threatening.
The four-alarm fire broke out around 5 p.m. Thursday at 515 W. 59th St., near 10th Avenue. It is 33 stories high with more than 465 apartments.
Fire officials said the fire started in a third-floor apartment, and spread heavy smoke to higher floors. It was extinguished just before 7 p.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
One firefighter was severely burned and taken to the Cornell burn unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital for treatment, with another three firefighters also sustaining non-life threatening injuries.
None of the other injuries to civilians is life-threatening. Three were children, including a 7-year-old girl who was in cardiac arrest on the 21st floor. She was revived. A 1-month old and a 1-year-old also were being treated.
A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio said the mayor had spoken to the hospitalized, injured firefighter who “was in good spirits.” The mayor may visit again Friday.
Heavy winds Thursday hampered the firefighting efforts, said FDNY Chief of Department James Leonard. He said nine people were removed safely from the roof.
The building is used in part to house medical residents and doctors affiliated with Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital.
Leonard warned others that if your apartment is on fire, leave the apartment and make sure to close the door, then call 911. If the fire is not in your apartment, he advises sheltering in place and blocking smoke under the doors with towels.
