An explosion rocked Manhattan’s Upper East Side and sent plumes of smoke into the skies over New York City Friday.
Around 170 firefighters and first responders were called to 305 E 95th Street at around 10am Friday morning after a massive fire broke out inside a pre-war apartment building.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud boom which ‘sounded like a bomb’ going off.
‘I heard an explosion from my building just opposite the fire, and looked outside and saw all the smoke in the skies,’ Joann Sowma told the Daily Mail on the scene.
The fire was sparked by an accumulation of gas inside the basement, ABC 7 reported.
Flames were seen raging on the rooftop after the fire spread to the top-floor apartments, according to Citizen.
No occupants were in the affected units at the time but the building’s superintendent was in the basement when the fire broke out, ABC 7 reported. He is being treated for minor injuries.
The FDNY told the Daily Mail three firefighters also sustained minor injuries.
A massive fire broke out on the rooftop of 305 E 95th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
Large plumes of smoke could be see coming rising from the top of the pre-war building
‘I heard an explosion from my building just opposite the fire, and looked outside and saw all the smoke in the skies,’ Joann Sowma (right) told Daily Mail. Firefighter David Martinez, 38, who was inside the apartment, said he was battling fires inside for ‘quite some time’
Helicopter footage shows dozens of firefighters spraying water on top of the 59-unit building.
Firefighter David Martinez, 38, who was inside the apartment, told the Daily Mail he was battling fires inside for ‘quite some time’.
‘We were going room to room, I was at the end of the hose trying to keep it down… it was so hot.’
‘Luckily, they weren’t home,’ he added of the residents.
Martinez, a former Marine, said crews were unsure of the exact cause of the fires, but said they ‘have it under control’.
Furniture is believed to be the source of the smoke on the rooftop, according to Citizen.
The fire was rated a three-alarm, meaning it was a large-scale blaze that required a significant amount of personnel and resources to extinguish.
The building’s superintendent was in the basement at the time and is being treated for minor injuries, ABC 7 said. The FDNY told the Daily Mail three firefighters sustained injuries (pictured: personnel on the scene)
Multiple FDNY and EMS units, including two ladder trucks, were sent to the scene
The large fire occurred Friday morning around 10am. Around 170 firefighters and first responders were called to the massive three-alarm blaze
Martinez, a former Marine, said crews were unsure of the exact cause of the fires, but said they ‘have it under control’
The red brick apartment building was built in 1910 and has six floors. It does have a ‘roof deck,’ according to its Street Easy profile
Crews were still working on the blaze by around midday, but had gotten the flames under control.
The fire marshals are on scene investigating, the FDNY said.
The red brick apartment building was built in 1910 and has six floors and a roof deck, according to its Street Easy profile.
