31 Seriously Hurt in Bronx Apartment Building Fire, Officials Say

Thirty-one people were seriously injured on Sunday morning in a five-alarm fire in a high-rise apartment building in the Bronx, officials said.

Roughly 200 firefighters were on the scene battling the blaze, according to the Fire Department.

The fire started in a duplex apartment on the second and third floors, according to a spokeswoman for the Fire Department. The fire did not spread to other apartments, but there was smoke throughout the building, according to the spokeswoman, Amanda Farinacci.

Smoke billowed from the windows on the upper floors of the building, according to video posted on the Citizen app.

The fire was reported just before 11 a.m., according to Frank Dwyer, another Fire Department spokesman.

“We have members throughout the entire building, from the first floor to the roof,” he said, adding that firefighters had “removed 31 people from the building with serious injuries.”

The 19-story building, at 333 East 181st Street, was built in 1972, according to city records. The 120-unit building is near Tiebout Avenue in the Tremont section of the Bronx.

It was not immediately clear what may have caused the fire on Sunday.

In response to the fire, New York City’s Office of Emergency Management advised nearby residents on Twitter to “avoid smoke, close windows.”