Deadly NYC Apartment Fire Spread Due to Open Door, a Common Tragedy in the City
Most of the deaths in Sunday's Bronx blaze were due to smoke inhalation after the door to the apartment where the fire started was left open
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The fire started on the third floor, and flames burst through windows while firefighters were trying to pull people to safety. NBC New York’s Marc Santia reports.
The deadly fire that killed 17 people in New York City on Sunday started with a malfunctioning electric space heater, but the smoke that took most of the lives spread because the burning apartment's door was not closed as residents fled.
It is a common thread in some of the city's worst fires of recent years, with tragic consequences.
"The door to that apartment, unfortunately, when the residents left was left open, it did not close by itself. The smoke spread throughout the building, thus the tremendous loss of life," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said at a Sunday news conference.
In fact, Nigro said, the fire never got beyond the hallway in front of the origin apartment.
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The FDNY responds to an apartment fire on 181st Street in the Bronx that left 32 people with life-threatening injuries, Jan. 9, 2022.
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Hundreds of firefighters responded to the fire, which broke out just before 11 a.m.
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Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said smoke spread throughout the 19-story building, calling the situation "unprecedented."
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Victims were taken to five different area hospitals.
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Mayor Eric Adams, on only his second weekend in office, said the fire was likely to be the city's worst blaze since the Happyland fire in 1990.
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NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Broken windows and charred bricks mark the exterior of a 19-story residential building after a fire erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Emergency first responders remain at the scene of an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Broken windows and charred bricks mark the exterior of a 19-story residential building after a fire erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 09: Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Another deadly Bronx fire, in 2017, had much the same story -- a blaze started in one apartment, but an open door meant smoke spread and took many more lives.
In the three months after that fire, city officials issued more than 3,800 violations for faulty fire doors that should have closed on their own but did not. They also moved to make fire door inspections mandatory, such that inspectors would have to check doors even if called out to a unit for another complaint.
The fire commissioner said Monday that doors in the apartment building were self-closing, but the door to the duplex unit and one on the 15th floor were not functioning properly. Mayor Eric Adams said the building had few violations, none related to the fire, and Nigro said the federally funded building may have been built outside city fire codes.
