At Least 38 Injured in High-Rise Fire in Manhattan - The New York Times

Firefighters, utilizing ropes and dangling disconnected a high-rise successful Midtown Manhattan, rescued a pistillate who was trapped successful a occurrence that injured astatine slightest 38 radical connected Saturday, officials said.

The occurrence astatine 429 East 52nd Street was caused by a lithium-ion artillery successful an electrical bicycle, the authorities said. The portion wherever the occurrence started had astatine slightest 5 e-bikes, Chief Fire Marshal Daniel E. Flynn said. Officials said they judge that a nonmigratory of the flat repaired bikes and were investigating whether unauthorized concern enactment had taken place.

About 200 fires successful New York City this twelvemonth person been caused by lithium-ion batteries, resulting successful six deaths, helium said. These batteries are recovered successful micro-mobility proscription devices specified arsenic electrical bikes, scooters and hoverboards. The fires caused by the batteries are typically intense, and tin rapidly summation momentum with immoderate combustible objects astir them, officials said.

A motion extracurricular the flat analyzable read, “No pedal oregon e-bikes allowed beyond this point.” Fire officials said immoderate instrumentality that utilized the almighty lithium-ion batteries could origin a risk, not lone those successful bicycles.

In a melodramatic infinitesimal caught connected video and posted connected societal media, firefighters rescued a pistillate from a 20th-floor flat wherever officials said the occurrence started. Firefighters pulled the pistillate done a shattered model connected a level below. One different idiosyncratic was enactment rescued from this unit.

Of those hurt, 2 were successful captious condition, 5 were successful superior information and the remainder had insignificant injuries, occurrence officials said.

They said they were inactive compiling accusation astir the radical injured, arsenic good arsenic the fig of radical who were displaced, who volition person assistance from the Red Cross.

Officials said lingering questions astir whether determination had been gathering information issues — whether determination was oregon should person been a occurrence alarm; whether doors were near open, feeding the fire; whether occurrence extortion and readying astatine the gathering were capable — would beryllium portion of their investigation.

Residents described a country of disorder and uncertainty astir what had happened.

Riley Jankowski, 23, said she smelled fume and initially thought her flat analyzable had turned the vigor on.

It wasn’t until she heard occurrence trucks, she said, that she opened her model blinds, saw fume and realized the threat.

At astir 10:30 a.m., she ran retired of her flat connected the sixth level and banged connected her neighbors’ doors, yelling, “Fire!”

“I tally down the stairs, and arsenic I’m moving retired connected the courtyard, the model bursts and solid flies astir arsenic I’m connected the telephone with my ma screaming for my life,” she said.

Allie Gold and Grant Rosenberg, some 26, near their 10th-floor flat erstwhile they smelled fume and saw it billowing retired of a window.

“The alarm didn’t spell off, but it seemed similar everyone got the memo and started going out,” Mr. Rosenberg said.

Along with Samantha Wilker, 30, a person who was visiting, and their dog, Norman, they went down the stairs arsenic firefighters were coming in. Upon exiting the building, the 3 saw windows popular supra them.

The thoroughfare of the analyzable reopened to pedestrians astatine astir 1 p.m., astir 3 hours aft the occurrence was reported. Some residents stood extracurricular the gathering waiting for their dogs to beryllium rescued. Crowds of passers-by that had been watching the enactment had dissipated by then. Surrounding the emergency, New Yorkers were spending their Saturday sitting astatine brunch and walking tiny dogs connected a warmer-than-expected day.

Residents who lived supra the 20th floor, wherever the occurrence was, evacuated to the roof. The New York Police Department dispatched a helicopter, but nary rescues were conducted with it.

Other residents fled to the thoroughfare via stairs oregon elevator, but the occurrence officials said they whitethorn person been safer remaining successful their units with doors closed due to the fact that the operation of the gathering is not combustible.

The occurrence comes astir a twelvemonth aft a conflagration successful the Bronx killed 17 radical aft unfastened flat and stairwell doors allowed fume to spread.

Eric Zuehlke, 44, was walking location from the subway aft spending the nighttime successful Brooklyn and did not recognize the commotion was astir his building. He has lived connected the 15th level for astir 2 years.

His 9-year-old lad has a person connected the 23rd floor, supra the fire, who is portion of a household with 3 young sons. Last helium had heard, a kid and grandparent were wrong the building, and helium was trying to corroborate the information of the family.

A couple, who asked not to beryllium named for privacy, said they didn’t announcement thing was amiss until astir an hr aft the occurrence started, erstwhile they came upstairs from doing their laundry successful the basement.

“We didn’t perceive immoderate occurrence alarm, immoderate announcement, anything,” 1 said.